


Let's Ruin The Friendship

by silver_etoile



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blow Jobs, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Rimming, Sexting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 01:28:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15232356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_etoile/pseuds/silver_etoile
Summary: Desperate to get Merlin over his breakup with Lance, Arthur makes a suggestion that surely can't backfire--sex with no strings attached. Arthur's perfectly capable of controlling his own feelings, so why does this feel all wrong and more than a little bit right?





	Let's Ruin The Friendship

It had been a month, an entire month, and somehow Arthur still found himself lying across the foot of Merlin’s bed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he listened to what he had come to dub Merlin’s Reminiscence for the millionth time.

“God, I miss him so much,” Merlin said from where he sat above Arthur’s head.

Arthur didn’t restrain his rolled eyes even though he knew Merlin could see him. He wasn’t sure how much more he could listen to. Merlin ignored him, though, as he had done the last ten times he’d told this story.

“I can’t believe he broke up with me for Gwen.”

“You can’t?” Arthur twisted to look up at Merlin, a skeptical eyebrow raised.

Merlin’s bed wasn’t particularly comfortable, but it was the only place to sit in the tiny room. Unless they wanted to brave the rest of the flatshare and try the living room where one of Merlin’s flatmates was probably cooking a smelly fish and watching crap telly. Arthur preferred it in Merlin’s room even if the floor was covered in textbooks with sharp edges.

“You’re meant to be on my side,” Merlin said, shoving his dark hair from his face and scowling at Arthur.

Pushing himself up, Arthur shook his head. “Merlin, we’re mates, but I can’t listen to this story one more time.”

“What are you talking about?” Merlin said it as though he had no idea what Arthur could mean when Arthur knew full well that Merlin was aware of how much he talked about this on a daily basis.

“So Lance dumped you for Gwen,” Arthur said bluntly, ignoring the way Merlin’s face scrunched up, as though he hadn’t said the same thing not a minute ago. “I cannot listen to this anymore. I can’t listen to how perfect Lance was and how you thought he was _the one_. Because the truth is, he wasn’t. You gotta get over this.”

As much as Arthur liked Merlin, enjoyed his company and his sarcastic commentary on movies, he was going to go insane if he had to hear one more time how perfect Lance was, how Merlin had to have something wrong with him, how he couldn’t believe this had happened. It had been an entire month of Merlin moping around, sad that his perfect boyfriend had fallen for his best friend and they now seemed happy as clams.

“Just get over it, huh?” Merlin scoffed as thought Arthur hadn’t said the exact same thing three days ago when Merlin had told him the same story over coffee. “That easy? How am I supposed to do that?”

“Simple,” Arthur said, scooting up so he was leaning against the wall and Merlin sat with his knees curled up to his chin beside him. “Get laid.”

He knew Merlin was going to roll his eyes before he even said it, and that was exactly what he did.

“Right. Just sleep with someone and it’ll magically be better. Because there are so many people out there who want to sleep with me.”

“It doesn’t have to be anyone important,” Arthur pointed out. Sex was the best way he knew how to get over someone. A good fuck with a stranger put all his troubles to bed, figuratively speaking. He watched Merlin scowl, forehead wrinkling in that adorably annoying way he did when he was thinking how stupid Arthur was. “Hell, I’d sleep with you if it would get you to shut up.”

“Thank you.” Merlin glared and maybe that had been a little harsh, Arthur admitted, but he had to get Merlin over this. He had to, for his own sanity.

Merlin was the sensitive type, Arthur thought, watching Merlin perch his chin on his knees with a sigh. He was a romantic, and Lance had seemed like the perfect match. He’d been polite, smart, nice, cute. He’d also been bi and he and Gwen had just clicked somehow, in a way he and Merlin hadn’t.

“Come on, it’s not that bad of an idea,” Arthur said instead of apologizing, shoving Merlin’s knees down.

Merlin’s eyebrows didn’t unfurrow. “What? Sleeping with someone or sleeping with you?”

“Either.” Arthur was a catch if he said so himself, and Merlin wasn’t bad either, when he stopped moping about ex-boyfriends. “It doesn’t have to be a thing. Sex is good for you. And I happen to be great at it.”

Merlin frowned at him, but Arthur was completely serious. At this point, he’d hurl himself off a cliff to get Merlin to stop lamenting about his failed relationship, how _happy_ Lance was with Gwen, how he couldn’t compete with perfection. Arthur had just about had it.

Shifting, Arthur moved over, swinging himself onto Merlin’s lap and ignoring Merlin’s dubious stare.

“And as an added bonus, I’m one-hundred percent into blokes. No chance of me dumping you for a girl.”

For a long moment, Merlin only stared up at him. “You’re serious,” he said finally, as though he didn’t quite believe it.

The Sixth Sense movie poster tacked up behind Merlin’s head was peeling at the corner and Arthur smoothed it down gently. He sat back slightly so he could meet Merlin’s gaze, even.

“You have to get out of this… whatever this is,” he said simply. He realized that most people wouldn’t just offer their mates sex to get over a failed relationship, but he and Merlin had never been typical friends. They’d practically hated each other the whole first year of Uni, and now that they were finally friends, what was a fuck? “And I only know one way to do that.”

“It’s not the only way I know,” Merlin said, and Arthur laughed, once, sharp.

“Yeah, your way involves never shutting up about it.” He was pretty sure he’d never heard the name Lance as much in his life as he had the past few weeks. And he’d be glad to never again, no matter what it took. He couldn’t stand seeing Merlin so depressed. He couldn’t stand to be the one who had to hear about it since Merlin’s usual confidant was currently sleeping with his not-so-perfect ex-boyfriend.

Merlin was carefully not touching Arthur despite the fact that their thighs were pressed together, frowning at his lap instead, like Arthur shouldn’t be there.

“Just a fuck,” Arthur said easily, setting his hands on Merlin’s shoulders, heavy and purposeful, and it got Merlin to look up. “No strings. Just get Lance out of your head.”

Merlin opened his mouth, but he hesitated a second before shaking his head. “I can’t. This is just—you’re insane.”

“When are you ever going to get another offer like this?” Arthur pointed out. “Do you understand what I’m offering?”

“Yes, I understand what you’re offering, Arthur,” Merlin said, his scowl back. Reaching down, he shoved Arthur off his lap and Arthur let him, rolling onto the bed again. “But it’s not the answer. Not with you.”

Arthur wasn’t insulted, though he couldn’t help asking, “Then with who?”

Merlin didn’t meet his gaze, letting his head hit the wall as he stared up at the ceiling. “I miss—”

“No, no,” Arthur interrupted, pushing himself off the bed. “If you’re not going to at least try to get over him, I’m not going to sit here and listen to this again.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Merlin asked as Arthur slipped his shoes back on.

“To my flat where I won’t have to hear about Lance anymore.”

Merlin didn’t argue with him, and Arthur paused as he reached the door. He couldn’t just leave like that, with Merlin’s heavy sigh behind him.

“Seriously, Merlin, I know it’s shit, what happened, but let me know when you’re ready to get over it and I’ll do whatever I can to help, okay?”

Merlin sighed in response and Arthur pulled the door open. He left Merlin’s flat, narrowly escaping Gilli in the common room who tried to rope him into watching Gogglebox.

Arthur may not have been a great friend all the time, but even he couldn’t watch Merlin become a sad, mopey version of his former self. He just hoped Merlin would realize that before it was too late.

*

“Merlin’s not here?” Gwaine asked as Arthur slid into the booth at the pub. Gwaine and Leon both already had pints in front of them as Arthur took his seat.

Arthur shook his head at Gwaine’s question. “He’s still holed up in his room.”

“Well, did you tell him we were gonna get sloshed tonight?” Gwaine asked, beckoning to the bartender across the room.

Sighing, Arthur shrugged. “I’ve done everything I could to get him out of that room. You wouldn’t think it would be this bad. He dated Lance for two months, if that.”

“Breakups are hard,” Leon offered, ever the voice of reason in their little group.

“I even offered to sleep with him,” Arthur said, taking a drink of the beer the server set before him.

Across the booth, Gwaine let out a peal laughter. “How generous of you, princess.”

“I don’t think sex is the answer,” Leon said, and Gwaine scoffed.

“Sex is always the answer. You don’t know how many problems I’ve solved with sex.”

Leon ignored Gwaine, leaning closer as though someone might be listening in in the crowded pub. “You wouldn’t actually do it, would you?”

Arthur shrugged. “I’d do almost anything to never hear about Lance again.”

“I’ll do it,” Gwaine volunteered, draining what was left in his mug. “Tell Merlin I’m down to fuck. I will get Lance off his brain so fast.”

“We don’t want to give him an STD,” Arthur said and Gwaine scoffed. “Besides, you’re not really his type.”

Gwaine laughed. “And you are? You spent the whole of first year sniping at each other like five-year olds in a sandbox.”

Gwaine had a point but Arthur wasn’t going to admit it. He and Merlin were friends now and that was what mattered. And friends helped each other out. “It was just a suggestion to get his mind off things.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” Leon asked, ignoring Gwaine waving at the bartender again. “I mean, sleeping with a friend.”

“Haven’t you ever heard of friends with benefits?” Gwaine asked beside him.

“Yeah,” Leon replied. “And I’ve heard it never works.”

“Oh, that’s just movie shit,” Gwaine said, waving his hand dismissively. “Two people can actually just fuck and it’s fine.”

“I don’t know if Merlin could.”

“You don’t give him enough credit,” Gwaine said, turning to Arthur. “Merlin could totally sleep around, right, Arthur?”

Arthur had never really thought about Merlin sleeping around. In the few years he’d known him, Merlin had always dated. “I don’t see why not.” Arthur wouldn’t have offered if he hadn’t been sure it would just be sex, right?

“Exactly,” Gwaine said, as though the matter was settled. “Now who wants to do shots?”

Leon groaned between them and Arthur resigned himself to a long night.

*

The door shut behind Arthur and he dropped his coat on the chair as he stepped inside. He wasn’t drunk, just pleasantly tired and looking forward to sinking into his bed. He and Leon had managed to distract Gwaine from his shot suggestion with a cute third-year across the bar.

Arthur was halfway to his room when there came a knock on the door. Checking the time, Arthur frowned as he turned back. It was pretty late for house guests, especially for house guests who hadn’t texted in advance.

Maybe it was his stoner neighbor looking for snacks at midnight.

Resigned, Arthur pulled open the door only to be surprised to find Merlin standing there.

“Merlin?”

Merlin shifted his weight, and Arthur wondered if he’d been sleeping lately from the way his hair was mussed, his face tired.

“I saw Lance today,” Merlin said, and Arthur’s heart sank.

“No, Merlin, I—” he said, starting to close the door. He just couldn’t take hearing it anymore, not without wanting to stride over to Lance’s flat and punch him in the face for hurting Merlin so much.

“Wait, wait,” Merlin said quickly, placing a hand on the door. “Just let me finish.”

Sighing, Arthur turned from the door and he heard Merlin shut it behind him.

“I saw Lance today,” Merlin started over. “And it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. I didn’t even talk to him. I saw him from fifty feet away and I couldn’t do anything. It hurts so much, and I… I just want it to be over. I just want five minutes where I don’t think about him. Just five minutes of a normal life again.”

“Merlin,” Arthur said because he didn’t know what else to say. He couldn’t help Merlin get over Lance with words. They’d talked this to death and it hadn’t seemed to do anything.

Merlin took a step forward, eyes pleading, and Arthur felt a pang. A year ago, he never would have imagined that he would feel bad for Merlin, but here he was with Merlin in his flat, practically begging for his help and he was completely ready to help him.

“So I went home and I took that bottle of scotch Owain thinks he’s hiding behind the TV and I had a drink. I had a couple drinks. And I was thinking about what you said, about getting over Lance.” Merlin looked up at Arthur. “Were you serious?”

Arthur couldn’t say he’d been expecting that when Merlin showed up at his doorstep. For a second, Arthur was surprised, but he’d already offered. He couldn’t take it back. And if it would help Merlin, he was all for it. Instead, he smiled. “Merlin, I’ve slept with people I’ve liked far less than you.”

It didn’t seem to reassure Merlin, but he didn’t leave. Arthur took a closer look at him, the wrinkles in his clothes, the tiredness in his limbs, the bags under his eyes.

“Why don’t you just come lie down,” he suggested, grabbing Merlin’s wrist and tugging him toward the bedroom. He wasn’t opposed to sleeping with Merlin, but it would be a little weird to go from being friends to fucking in two seconds.

Merlin sighed as Arthur shoved him gently onto the bed and toed off his own shoes. He climbed on behind Merlin, propping his head in his hand as Merlin turned to face him.

“You’re not drunk, are you?” he asked Merlin.

Merlin kicked off his shoes and curled up, his head on the pillow. “I only had a couple drinks. What about you? Didn’t you go to the pub tonight?”

Arthur nodded slowly, reaching over to jerk Merlin’s shirt down from where it was riding up over his stomach. He smoothed down the fabric. “We talked Gwaine out of shots.”

Merlin smiled, briefly, and Arthur was glad to see it, even for a second. “Maybe I should have come with you.”

“Gwaine offered to fuck you.”

“Then I definitely missed out,” Merlin replied, his shoulder brushing against Arthur’s as he shifted.

Arthur had slept with a lot of guys, probably an embarrassingly high number. His sister would have called him a man-whore. He had never hesitated to take advantage of an opportunity, but gazing down at Merlin, just for a second, there was a question in the back of his mind, a hesitation.

Merlin closed his eyes for a second, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Arthur gazed down at him, smiling when Merlin opened his eyes.

“What?” Merlin asked, plucking at a button on Arthur’s shirt as though he didn’t quite know what to do with his hands.

Instead of replying, Arthur leaned in, pressing an easy kiss to Merlin’s lips. It lasted a few seconds, long enough for him to close his eyes and try to focus on the softness of Merlin’s mouth, something he’d never thought about before this moment.

When he pulled back, he met Merlin’s gaze. Merlin’s eyebrows were furrowed, just slightly, as though he was trying to work out what he thought about all this.

“You’re not gonna fall in love with me, right?” Arthur asked when a second had passed and neither of them said anything.

To his relief, Merlin laughed, licking his lips. “As long as you don’t fall in love with me.”

“Deal,” Arthur agreed, and he swallowed as he leaned over Merlin again, a hand coming to Merlin’s neck as he kissed him for the second time.

Kissing Merlin was surprisingly easy, easier than he’d expected. Not that Arthur had really thought about it before this moment. But Merlin was pliant, opening his mouth for Arthur’s tongue, kissing him back, following his mouth when he moved.

Shifting, Arthur climbed on top of Merlin, knees bracketing his hips. His hands were in Merlin’s hair, a little too long around his ears, making it easy to tilt Merlin’s head back as Arthur kissed him, moving his mouth to Merlin’s jaw.

It wasn’t as weird as Arthur had thought it might be, snogging his friend, sliding his hands down to the waist of Merlin’s shirt and pulling it upward. It got caught on Merlin’s ears and Arthur found himself laughing.

“Shut up,” Merlin said as he got the shirt off and tossed on the floor. “Wanker.”

“Does this happen with all your partners?” Arthur teased, moving up and sliding his tongue up Merlin’s neck until he reached his earlobes. “Or do they think your ears are adorable?”

Merlin shoved Arthur’s head away from his ear, though Arthur could see the tip going red. “Do your partners like being teased?”

“Depends on the teasing,” Arthur replied cheekily, despite Merlin rolling his eyes. “Thought you didn’t want to think?”

“Then stop talking and get on with it,” Merlin replied, lying back on the bed and exhaling loudly.

Turning back to the task at hand, Arthur let himself take a moment on Merlin’s chest, pale and with few muscles to admire, though Arthur did smile at the softness of Merlin’s stomach as he let his hand stroke down from Merlin’s belly button.

“What’s this scar?” he asked, running his fingers over a healed-over slash on Merlin’s side.

“Had my appendix out when I was fifteen,” Merlin murmured. “Collapsed from the pain in the middle of class. That gave everyone something else to make fun of me for for the next couple years.”

“I like it,” Arthur said, pressing his lips to the pink scar, but above him, Merlin snorted.

“You’re an idiot.”

“I’m gonna make you forget about Lance. Then you won’t call me an idiot.”

Merlin didn’t reply, but Arthur saw him swallow as he reached for the zipper on his trousers. There was no going back after this, Arthur thought, as he slid the zipper down and tugged the trousers over Merlin’s hips.

Merlin wasn’t hard as Arthur got his jeans down, and Arthur wasn’t that surprised, although it was a little disappointing that Merlin didn’t get hard whenever he was around.

“What turns you on, Merlin?” Arthur asked, sliding his hands up Merlin’s sides and pressing his mouth to the peak of Merlin’s hip, sucking gently.

“Um,” Merlin replied, and Arthur saw his hands curl into the sheets as Arthur moved his mouth down, nibbling at his inner thigh. “I don’t know.”

“Of course you do,” Arthur corrected him, spreading Merlin’s legs. It was just like any other fuck except that it was Merlin’s cock in his face, twitching slowly like it wasn’t sure what to do. He tried not to think about that, or else the weirdness might get to him too. He was doing this as a favor to his friend. Sex was sex no matter who it was with.

Merlin had his eyes closed when Arthur looked up at him, like maybe he was imagining someone other than Arthur fondling his balls, smoothing them against his palms. It struck Arthur that he’d never seen Merlin naked before, and that Arthur still had all his clothes on.

“What about rimming? You like that?” Arthur asked, leaning in to run his tongue over the underside of Merlin’s prick.

Above him, Merlin opened his eyes. “This is weird.”

On the one hand, he and Merlin had never really discussed their sex lives aside from the fact that they had them. They’d only really become friends in the last year, and Arthur wondered for a minute if this was a terrible idea, but then Merlin let out a sound that could only be a shaky whimper as Arthur let his tongue slide over the tip of his cock.

That was enough talking, Arthur decided, leaning in and taking Merlin in his mouth. Merlin seemed to jerk in surprise at the action, but he didn’t shove him off or babble anything about this being too weird to happen.

Arthur happened to know that he was very good at this particular skill, and he enjoyed showing off, especially for Merlin who needed to forget all about Lance and focus on something else, and if that something else was Arthur’s tongue, so be it.

The best part about this for Arthur was the sounds people made, and he wasn’t disappointed by Merlin. Merlin was pretty talkative outside the bedroom, and he was no different inside.

As Arthur licked and sucked Merlin’s prick, sliding his hand to the base and squeezing gently, Merlin’s hips arched up, into his mouth, and Merlin groaned.

“Oh Jesus,” Merlin panted above him, his eyes closed again, biting his bottom lip. “Oh God, Arthur, how— _Jesus fuck_.”

Arthur took that as a compliment and settled between Merlin’s legs, sliding his tongue over his cock, sucking on the tip as Merlin’s litany of curses continued.

Arthur had too many clothes on, and he wished he hadn’t chosen to wear his tight jeans tonight as Merlin’s words hit him hard and he felt himself getting hard. It wasn’t about him, though, not tonight, so he pressed a palm to his crotch and shook away the blood rushing from his brain.

“Can you come from just this?” Arthur asked, sliding his mouth up Merlin’s cock, mouthing along the ridges, pressing a kiss to the base, hot and heavy against his lips.

“Fuck, yes, yeah,” Merlin replied, breathless.

“Aren’t you easy to please?” Arthur murmured, stroking Merlin’s cock with his hand, strong and slow.

“Arthur,” Merlin warned, and Arthur didn’t look up to see his glare.

Instead, he smiled to himself before leaning in and taking Merlin as far as he could go, arching his back as he swallowed against Merlin. He heard Merlin’s shaky breath, felt Merlin’s fingers digging into his shoulder, and he didn’t pull back when Merlin made a sharp noise and pushed at him, a warning.

Merlin came and Arthur didn’t pull back, licking up his prick as Merlin cursed above him, fingers clenched around the sheets.

“Jesus, you swallow?” Merlin asked after a minute as Arthur pulled back, wiping at his mouth.

Arthur let his gaze travel up from Merlin’s still half-hard cock, up his soft stomach and to the flush on his collar bone. His own erection was uncomfortable in his jeans, but he said nothing as he lay down next to Merlin. 

Merlin didn’t immediately cover up as they lay there, catching their breath. Arthur could see a tiny glisten of sweat at Merlin’s temples and he smiled to himself.

“Feel better?” he asked finally and Merlin blinked at the ceiling, slowly. 

“I don’t know.”

Arthur frowned. He’d been hoping maybe it might magically fix everything even though, logically, he’d known it wouldn’t.

“But it was at least good, right?” he asked instead, nudging Merlin.

To his credit, Merlin smiled at him. “Yeah, you’re good, okay? Are you happy? Is your ego stroked enough?”

Arthur pressed a kiss to Merlin’s cheek, brushing his hair aside. “Yes. Thank you.”

It was another minute before Merlin sighed and pushed himself up. “I should probably get home. I’ve got an exam on Monday.”

Arthur watched him get dressed, pulling on his jeans and shirt, though the shirt was inside out. Arthur didn’t mention it as he got up from the bed and walked with Merlin to the front door.

“Hey,” he said as they reached it and Merlin shoved his hair out of his eyes. He hesitated. He wasn’t great at this part. “I know this last month has been bad, and I was kind of shitty about listening to you, but—”

“No, you were right,” Merlin interrupted him. “I’ve got stop talking about him all the time and try to move on. Even if that’s going to be really hard.”

“I believe in you,” Arthur said with a shrug. Just because he was sick of hearing about Lance didn’t mean he didn’t care. He just wanted Merlin to get over this and get back to his sarcastic, annoyingly-optimistic self. Arthur was beginning to miss it, something he never thought he’d say. “And if you need help, what’s a blow job between friends, right?”

Merlin smiled at Arthur’s words. “I guess.”

“Text me later,” Arthur said as Merlin left, shutting the door behind him. There, he thought as he turned to his empty flat. Nothing had gone wrong. Nothing was weird. It turned out Gwaine was right—two friends could have sex and nothing would change.

*

The thing was, despite everything that had happened with Merlin, Lance, and Gwen, Arthur was still sort of friends with Gwen. It was difficult not to be friends with the nicest person in the world, even if she was dating the guy that had broken Merlin’s heart.

It wasn’t something Arthur wanted to talk about with Gwen, especially considering how much he’d already had to hear about it from Merlin, but he couldn’t stop Gwen from bringing it up over coffee and scones one afternoon at the cafe around the corner.

“Is Merlin still upset?” she asked, tucking a curl behind her ear and setting her gaze on Arthur, in a way that meant he couldn’t ignore the question as he had the last two times she’d asked.

“What do you think?” he replied, taking a sip of his now luke-warm coffee. They were supposed to be studying for their mutual statistics class, but Arthur was beginning to suspect that had only been a pretext to get him to come. He couldn’t deny he’d been avoiding Gwen since this whole thing started. It sucked being in the middle.

Gwen’s face fell, as though she hadn’t known the answer already. “He knows it wasn’t intentional, right? I would never want to hurt him.”

As nice as Gwen was, Arthur didn’t understand how she could be so naive about this. “Gwen, you did hurt him. You and Lance. And he’s going to need time to get over it.”

She frowned, worrying her bottom lip. Arthur wasn’t the person she should be talking to anyway. He was terrible at communication and _feelings_ , as Morgana always told him. His last two relationships had been mostly, completely, about sex. He wasn’t sure he’d even gone out with the guys to a pub or a restaurant. 

“I just hate how this all happened,” she said finally, and Arthur couldn’t disagree. He didn’t think anyone had seen it coming.

“It’ll figure itself out,” Arthur said for lack of anything better. He honestly had no idea how this was going to work out. All he knew was that he had somehow become Merlin’s sounding board for this particular problem which meant it was partially his problem to figure out too.

Gwen didn’t seem reassured by his words as she picked at her scone. “You don’t suppose if maybe they talked, it would be better?”

Arthur, remembering what Merlin had said the other day, about even seeing Lance rendering him useless, shook his head. “I think Merlin needs more time. And not to think about Lance or you or what you two are doing together.”

She sighed, and Arthur felt a pang of guilt for not being more reassuring. “You don’t think he’s going to hate me forever, do you?”

Reaching over, Arthur patted her arm awkwardly. “He doesn’t hate you. His boyfriend dumped him because he wanted to date you, his best friend. He’s hurt. And his ego, if he has any, was bruised.”

“You and Merlin could go toe to toe in the ego department,” Gwen said, but she cracked a smile. “You’re right. I shouldn’t push so hard. I should give him time.”

Arthur was pleasantly surprised at being told he was right twice in one week. “I am right. Some day, this is all just going to be a funny story.”

“I hope sooner rather than later,” Gwen said and Arthur couldn’t agree more.

“How about we don’t talk about Lance or Merlin anymore, okay? At least for a while.” He needed a break. How much longer was he going to have to hear about this? Maybe it was insensitive to both Gwen and Merlin, but Arthur had his own sanity to worry about.

“You’d rather talk about statistics?” Gwen asked, nudging the textbook towards him.

Arthur nodded. “At this point, anything is better than your little love triangle.”

Gwen nodded in agreement, and Arthur finished off his cold coffee.

*

Arthur didn’t like to be kept waiting. Especially when the only people home were Merlin’s weird flatmates. There was Gilli, who studied microbiology and always had some weird slimy animal in a tank whenever Arthur came over. There was Owain, the bloke who drank way too much and rarely surfaced before noon. And there was Elena, a girl who did weird, tantric yoga in the living room.

So Arthur waited outside, scrolling through his phone rather than sit in the living room, surrounded by the lingering scent of alcohol, newts in tanks, and Elena bending over backwards before him.

“You’re late,” he said when Merlin finally jogged up to the front door.

Merlin didn’t even reply to him, shoving his key in the lock and going ahead of Arthur. Arthur followed, curious about this new silent Merlin. That was rare. Merlin always had something to say to his jabs.

Both Gilli and Elena were in the living room, the television on to some terrible TV show and Elena was upside down, her legs against the wall. Arthur ignored both of them, following Merlin to his room where at least there was a semblance of normalcy.

He watched Merlin toss his book bag in the corner with perhaps a bit too much force for a Thursday afternoon. Merlin turned to Arthur, a plaintive look on his face.

“Am I so unattractive, is that it?” Merlin asked, and Arthur frowned.

“Is what it?”

Merlin flopped onto his bed with an over-exaggerated sigh. “Am I boring? Am I stupid? Do I talk too much?” Arthur opened his mouth to reply, but Merlin shook his head. “Don’t answer that one.”

Moving over, Arthur sat down next to Merlin. “What is going on?” Merlin wasn’t usually this self-deprecating, even after a few pints.

Merlin shoved his hair back, and somehow, he always looked younger when he did it. Merlin looked young in general. Most people assumed he was seventeen rather than twenty.

“Why do all my relationships fail?” Merlin asked, eyes wide as he stared at Arthur, as though Arthur might actually know the answer.

“Because you’re twenty,” Arthur said because he couldn’t think of any other reason. Merlin wasn’t boring or stupid, and he wasn’t unattractive either despite the fact that yes, he did talk too much.

“Some people get married at eighteen!”

“Well, those people are idiots,” Arthur pointed out, “And they’re going to be divorced by the time they’re thirty. Is that what you want?”

Merlin frowned, looking away from Arthur. “No.”

Arthur sighed, caught in this trap again. Every time. “You shouldn’t be worrying about finding someone. You should be enjoying your freedom as a single guy. Go out and shag someone. Have you ever been to a gay club in this town?”

Merlin shot him a skeptical look. “I don’t pick up blokes like you do.”

“Maybe you should.” Arthur suggested it but he knew Merlin would never just go to a club and pick up some random stranger.

For a moment, neither of them spoke and Merlin toed off his shoes. Arthur didn’t check the time. He was supposed to meet his father for dinner later, their monthly dinner where Arthur lied about how well school was going and Uther only vaguely listened while complaining about how the steak was cooked.

“If you didn’t know me,” Merlin said after a minute, crossing his ankles, “would you hit on me in a club?”

Leaning back on his hands, Arthur pretended to contemplate the question, mostly just because he enjoyed leaving Merlin hanging. He smiled after a minute, though. “If you didn’t talk first.”

“You’re hilarious,” Merlin said, deadpan, and Arthur laughed, leaning into Merlin’s neck instead.

“If you squint, you’re kind of attractive,” he said, watching the little hairs on Merlin’s neck move with his breath. Merlin’s neck was unmarred with only a few freckles disappearing under the neck of his shirt.

Merlin tilted his head slightly towards Arthur so that Arthur’s lips were centimeters from his cheek. “You’re not doing much for my ego here.”

Arthur smiled. “You want me to say that you have a perfect jawbone and anyone would be lucky to leave marks all over it?”

He caught Merlin’s amused smile this time as he traced down Merlin’s jaw with his finger. Anything he could do to get Merlin’s mind off Lance and his supposed un-love-ability. 

“That’s better,” Merlin allowed. “Now say something about how smart I am.”

Arthur chuckled, licking his lips and catching Merlin’s eyes as Merlin turned towards him. “It doesn’t work if you tell me what to say.”

“Just do it.”

Normally, Arthur wouldn’t stroke Merlin’s ego like this. But Merlin had been in a bad place lately. Even Arthur knew that much.

So he let his hand fall from Merlin’s jaw and rest gently on his thigh. “Merlin, you’re one of the smartest people I know even if you waste it on things like architecture and history. You do always help us win pub quiz nights and you’ve saved my essays from failing grades more than a few times.”

Somehow, Arthur was surprised when Merlin moved forward and kissed him. It wasn’t a hesitant kiss, not a romantic kiss. It was Merlin’s mouth on his, Merlin’s hands on his neck as he licked into Arthur’s mouth, unusually aggressive for Merlin, at least Arthur thought it might be, but he didn’t know for sure considering they’d only ever kissed for the first time a few days ago. Arthur had always kind of assumed Merlin wouldn’t be the instigator when it came to sex, that he’d wait for the other guy to make the first move.

Arthur didn’t shove Merlin back as Merlin scrambled closer, biting at Arthur’s lips, not stopping to explain the way his fingernails dug into the back of Arthur’s neck.

Arthur had offered, he supposed, and he wasn’t going to turn down sex, especially if it was what Merlin needed to feel better about himself.

For the first time, he stopped thinking that this was Merlin, his best mate, and let Merlin shove him onto his back. Merlin clearly wasn’t thinking about it either as he reached for Arthur’s shirt, stripping it off.

Merlin hummed into Arthur’s mouth, their lips sliding together, his tongue tracing Arthur’s bottom lip as he tilted his head to the side for something deeper that made Arthur’s chest clench.

Arthur reached for Merlin, hauling him over him, hand tight on the back of Merlin’s thigh. He didn’t need to think about how this was Merlin, the bloke he’d despised all of first year. All he thought was that Merlin was a damn good kisser and Lance was missing out.

Merlin’s shirt didn’t catch on his ears this time when Arthur pulled it up. Arthur wasn’t completely sure what this was leading to as Merlin’s hands slid to his chest, fingernails scraping over his nipples, and Arthur bit back a curse.

He could feel it already, his dick getting hard in his trousers as Merlin’s lips slid down to that same nipple, licking and sucking until Arthur was squeezing his eyes shut, fists clenched at his sides. Fuck, he couldn’t let Merlin do this to him, figure out all his weaknesses.

Moving swiftly, he was up and Merlin was the one on his back, looking slightly surprised at the change in positions. Arthur didn’t answer the question in his gaze, yanking down Merlin’s jeans instead. This wasn’t about Arthur and what Arthur liked.

He kissed Merlin before he could think too much about why he’d stopped Merlin from making him come using just his tongue. Merlin responded in kind to Arthur’s ministrations, their kisses sloppy, more focused on getting out of their clothes. Merlin’s hands yanked at Arthur’s button, pushing down the zipper, stopping just short of sliding underneath, a minuscule pause, fingers resting just above Arthur’s cock.

Arthur knew what Merlin was doing. He was thinking, thinking about this, thinking about how hard he was with Arthur above him. Arthur could feel it, Merlin’s prick pressed against his thigh, warm and hard. He could feel Merlin thinking as his lips slid to Arthur’s neck and he sucked on the sensitive patch of skin just below his ear.

Arthur wasn’t thinking, listening to his dick instead, the way it throbbed when Merlin’s hips stuttered up for just a second, an unspoken request for something Arthur could very well give.

“Turn over,” he told Merlin, catching the grate in his voice. Merlin did as he was told, legs spread, ass ready.

Struggling with his trousers, Arthur got them off, onto the floor. Underneath him, Merlin reached for the drawer on the bedside table, yanking it open, and a box of condoms tumbled to the front. He practically shoved the condom and lube at Arthur, burying his face in the pillow as Arthur tore the condom open and rolled it on his cock.

Arthur had done this with plenty of people, plenty of people that made him hard, and it wasn’t any different with Merlin as he pushed a lube-covered finger inside his ass. Except that it was Merlin moaning in return, Merlin’s ass clenching around his fingers.

It didn’t matter. This was for Merlin, and a little for Arthur, if he admitted how good it felt to sink inside Merlin’s tight, hot body. He reached for Merlin’s hips as he moved, thrusting inside him, listening to Merlin’s moans muffled by the pillow.

“Oh, fuck,” Merlin gasped as Arthur fucked him, hips pressing down for just a second too long as Arthur’s prick twitched, blood throbbing, feeling his own pulse inside Merlin.

“Who knew this was all it took to get you to shut up,” Arthur said, though the words came out a little too breathless as he pulled Merlin back against him, closing his eyes as he pushed inside and Merlin rocked his hips back.

Merlin didn’t reply, for once, biting his lip and burying his face in the pillow with a groan as Arthur slid all the way inside him.

Arthur didn’t want a reply. He just wanted to come, fucking Merlin slowly, listening to his muffled sounds. He was quieter now, maybe because his flatmates were in the living room, or maybe because Arthur was so far inside him, Arthur could feel every tremor in his body.

Merlin’s hips stuttered against the mattress as Arthur thrust inside him, sharp and hard, needing to get off now. Arthur’s hands dug into Merlin’s waist, pressing him down, sliding a thumb over the dimples in Merlin’s lower back, the freckles dotting up to his shoulder.

Arthur could only see one side if Merlin’s face, the way his mouth fell open as Arthur fucked him, a little too hard to be nice, a little too fast to really appreciate it.

“Arthur, I’m close,” Merlin gasped, biting his lower lip, panting for breath.

Arthur was close too, too close as he pressed his cock inside Merlin’s ass, closing his eyes against the rush of heat washing over his body. It was just the two of them, just the two of them alone in Merlin’s tiny room, his bedsheets mussed beneath them, Merlin’s textbooks strewn over the floor, overly-pretentious movie posters on the wall.

It was just Arthur’s prick inside Merlin when he came, eyes closed, hand pressing Merlin’s shoulder to the bed, hips jerking as pleasure rippled through his body.

Merlin was panting as Arthur came down, still thrusting lazily inside him, not quite ready to pull out.

“Did you come?” Arthur asked a second later as Merlin cursed under his breath.

“Almost,” Merlin breathed, but he pushed Arthur’s hand away as Arthur moved to slide underneath him. “No, don’t, I can…”

Surprised, Arthur pulled back, feeling Merlin grind his hips down into the mattress with a shaky moan. “You can come without…”

Apparently he could because Merlin’s muscles clenched around him a second later, hips jerking, and Merlin sucked in a sharp breath.

Merlin exhaled loudly as Arthur pulled out and moved over on the small bed. It hadn’t been what Arthur had been planning when he’d come over, but he wasn’t complaining either, especially when Merlin looked over at him and said, “I shouldn’t say this because God knows, you don’t need to hear it, but you’re actually not bad.”

“I am fantastic,” Arthur assured him, peeling off the condom and tossing it in the wastebasket near the closet.

Merlin snorted into the pillow but didn’t get up, and Arthur could appreciate how relaxed a good fuck could make a person, even Merlin.

“So you like frottage?” Arthur asked bluntly after a minute and Merlin granted him a glare out of the corner of his eye. “I’m learning all sorts of new things about you lately.”

“And you like to be on top,” Merlin muttered. He still hadn’t moved, probably lying in a wet spot, Arthur thought, but Merlin seemed content not to roll over or clean up for the moment.

“Is that a surprise?”

Merlin shook his head. “Not really. You are a control freak.”

Arthur would have argued if it wasn’t true. Instead, he rolled his eyes and gave Merlin a push. “Shove over. I’ve got a dinner to get to.”

“Monthly dinner with dad,” Merlin said, but he finally pushed himself up and let Arthur off the bed.

Arthur grabbed a tissue from Merlin’s table to clean up, tossing it in the trash and grabbing his trousers from where they were wrinkled on the floor. “Monthly hell.”

“You could just skip it,” Merlin suggested, lounging on his bed, gazing over at Arthur as he pulled on his trousers and reached for his shirt.

“I wish,” Arthur said, checking his reflection in the silver lamp on Merlin’s table. “Uther would kill me.”

“He doesn’t even like being there.”

“Neither of us do,” Arthur agreed, “but if we didn’t go, I don’t know what would happen. I’d rather not risk it, at least not until I’m out of Uni.”

Merlin hummed in agreement, but he sat up as Arthur headed for the door.

“Arthur,” he said, hesitating. Arthur turned back, a momentary sense of unease gripping him. “I just wanna… Thanks for not being weird about this.” He gestured between them awkwardly, and Arthur let out a breath of relief, flashing Merlin a smile.

“You’re not bad either, Merlin,” he said, gripping the doorknob. “It’s not a big deal.”

Merlin jerked his head in what Arthur assumed was agreement, and he didn’t stick around to ask. The sex was good and for once, they weren’t arguing. That was what Arthur called a success.

*

Arthur was late this time, skirting into the restaurant and only taking a minute to ensure it didn’t look like he’d just fucked someone into a mattress.

“You’re late,” Uther greeted him and Arthur was struck that he’d sounded just like that when Merlin had shown up late. A depressing thought. He vowed never to say that again.

“Sorry, I got caught up in—” Arthur cut himself off as he realized the second chair at the table was already occupied.

Amongst the clinking of silverwear and mumbling of small talk, Morgana flashed him not-quite friendly smile and flipped her long, black hair over her shoulder.

“Morgana,” he said, taken aback, glancing at Uther, who didn’t seem ruffled or surprised by her presence. “What are you doing… here?”

“It is a family dinner, isn’t it?” she asked, her smile still plastered on, and Arthur wasn’t sure if it was for Uther’s sake or for his.

“Arthur, sit down,” Uther said, impatient. His wine glass was already full, though it looked as if Morgana had drunk her entire glass already.

They came to the same restaurant every month, one of the more expensive places in town, with red velvet on the walls and plush carpet underfoot, low sconce lighting making everything seem dim. If Arthur was going to choose a university so far out of London, Uther insisted they at least eat at a decent restaurant when he made the agonizing forty minute drive once a month.

Arthur sat, swallowing his question about why exactly Morgana was there. Without Uther, they generally got along, as long as they didn’t talk to each other too often, but with Uther, all bets were off.

“How are classes?” Uther asked as the waiter appeared and poured Arthur a glass of wine without his asking.

So this was going to be normal? Arthur thought, glancing at Morgana, who raised her newly-filled glass to her lips.

“Fine,” he said after a minute of wondering what exactly this evening was going to turn into.

Uther grunted his approval, as he always did. Normally, his next question would be to ask Arthur how many more classes he had until he was finished, but Morgana leaned across the table towards Arthur.

“Are you seeing anyone?”

Uther’s glass stilled in his hand and Arthur shot Morgana a look. It was a sore subject, his sexuality, with Uther, who still seemed determined that Arthur would marry some upper class blonde woman and take over the family business once he was done with this ridiculous _phase_.

“No,” he replied simply, taking a gulp of his wine. He needed something stronger than this.

“Well, why not?” she asked, not looking as though she had any ulterior motive. “You’re a catch. Surely there is some cute boy out there for you.”

Uther’s mouth had taken a hard line but he didn’t stop Morgana from asking, not that he could have even if he’d wanted to. Morgana always did just what she wanted.

Arthur didn’t try to flaunt his choices in front of his father, even if it wasn’t a phase and he’d have to let go of that blonde woman dream eventually, because it usually made for a very uncomfortable lecture about propriety and the reputation of the Pendragon name.

“How about you?” he asked instead, a little louder than he intended. “You seeing anyone?” Maybe he could avoid that if he changed the subject.

Morgana smiled, more of a smirk really, leaning back, slim fingers around the stem of her glass. “Now that you mention it, I am seeing someone.”

Uh oh. This was why she was here. To rub Uther’s nose in some bloke he wouldn’t approve of. Arthur wasn’t sure how he always got in the middle of these things. First Merlin and Lance, and now his father and his sister.

“That’s great,” he said brightly, turning to Uther. “How’s business going, father?”

“Don’t you want to know who is it?” Morgana asked, setting Arthur with an expectant look.

“Can’t we at least wait until the appetizers arrive?”

Uther set down his glass with a clink on the tabletop and a resigned huff. “Morgana, why don’t you tell us what miscreant you’ve deigned to date this time before you drag this any further.”

“He’s not a miscreant. In fact, I think you know him.”

“I’m sure that I do,” Uther replied tersely.

Normally, these dinners were bad enough with Uther pressuring Arthur about his plans after graduation, why he wasn’t planning on doing a doctoral, if he really thought he could make a life without the help of the Pendragon Company. This time, although the pressure was on Morgana, Arthur still felt the stress of the evening washing over him.

“It’s Cenred,” Morgana said brightly, and Arthur grimaced as he watched Uther’s mouth twitch. “Cenred Wollenshire.”

For a second, Uther merely clenched his fist around his fork. “He’s ten years older than you,” he said at length, as though he was trying not to lose his temper in a crowded restaurant. Morgana was probably gleeful, Arthur thought as he watched her swirl the wine in her glass.

“Eight,” she corrected him. “And my mother was ten years younger than you. You didn’t seem to mind.”

Growing up, Arthur had never been the peacekeeper. Morgana had always taken that role… until she hit puberty. Then it was every man for himself. As Arthur sat there, between Uther’s glare and Morgana’s self-satisfied smirk, he found himself wishing he was back in Merlin’s bedroom. He didn’t have to think in there.

“Morgana, Cenred is a cheat,” Uther said, keeping his voice steady but low. “You can’t possibly think of taking up with him.”

“Just because he was smarter than you in a business deal does not make him a cheat,” she replied, arching a thin, dark eyebrow. “He and I enjoy each other’s company.”

Arthur had never been gladder to see food arrive at the table, but it didn’t seem to interrupt whatever was going on between Uther and Morgana. He wasn’t sure why he had to be present for this.

“I won’t allow you—”

“ _Allow_?” Morgana repeated sharply. “I’m an adult, Uther. You can’t tell me what to do.”

Arthur should have skipped this. Merlin had been right for once. He should have skipped it and they should have gone out to a pub with Leon and Gwaine and watched Gwaine hit on every guy until he found one to take home. Instead, he was caught in the middle of a classic Uther-Morgana power struggle.

Uther unclenched his fist from around the fork finally, turning purposefully away from Morgana. “Arthur, how many classes do you have until you finish? Have given any more thought to a fourth year?”

Across the table, Morgana set down her glass and crossed her arms, obviously put out by Uther’s attempt to be civil for once.

“Not really,” Arthur replied as Uther cut into his steak.

Uther grunted in response. “This steak is dry.”

Arthur held in his sigh and drained his glass instead.

*

“Why did you do that?” Arthur asked as Morgana picked up her coat from the closet by the front door. Uther had left five minutes ago after paying the cheque and practically fleeing Morgana’s presence.

Morgana flipped her hair out from under her collar and fixed him with a look. “Because I’m not afraid of him.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” Arthur protested, buttoning his own coat as he looked out the window to the damp street.

“You won’t even talk about dating around him, and I know you fuck plenty of blokes.”

“Well, fucking and dating are different,” Arthur pointed out, but it wasn’t as if he’d ever told Uther about anyone he’d dated either.

“You’re letting him think there’s still a chance,” she said as Arthur held open the door for her. They stepped out onto the street and the light rain falling on the pavement. “For that perfectly married posh couple in his mind.”

“I could do that,” Arthur said, flipping up his collar against the chilly breeze. “Just with a man.”

“That is not who Uther is picturing and you know it,” she said bluntly. “You have to show him it’s not going to happen.”

Arthur frowned. “You think I haven’t told him before? Why do you think he keeps trying to set me up with Vivian?”

“Telling and showing are two different things,” Morgana replied, hailing over a cab. “When I show up to the next cocktail hour with Cenred on my arm, you can be sure Uther won’t be wondering if I’m serious or not.”

She had a point, Arthur hated to admit. “Just promise me you won’t show up to any more of these unannounced. I need some warning next time.”

Morgana smiled as the cab pulled up and she opened the door. “I promise next time I won’t come alone. You shouldn’t either.”

Arthur merely groaned as she stepped into the cab and shut the door behind her. He watched the car disappear into the rain before he turned, rustling the water off his jacket and heading for his flat and a large glass of scotch.

*

Gwen fidgeted through the last half of class, pen tapping a nervous rhythm against her notebook instead of taking notes. Arthur didn’t dare ask what was wrong for fear of her telling him what was wrong. He suspected he already knew.

When class ended and the room was filled with babble and people packing their bags, Gwen walked with him out to the lawn.

“Have you seen Merlin lately?” she asked as they crossed the mushy grass.

“Yeah,” Arthur said. He’d seen Merlin yesterday. They’d listened to Gilli talking about his newest _specimen_ for half an hour before they’d escaped to watch a movie instead.

Gwen paused, tugging a curl straight. It bounced right back when she released it. “It’s just, I haven’t heard from him in over a week. No texts, no messages. I haven’t even seen him around.”

Arthur shrugged uselessly. “He’s just trying to get over Lance.”

“He’s not trying to get over me, is he?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“Of course not,” Arthur assured her, though he couldn’t be completely sure. “You’re his best friend.”

“Who’s dating his ex-boyfriend.”

“You could have said no,” Arthur pointed out. If Gwen had said no, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Well, Merlin would still be depressed, but at least he’d have Gwen to complain to instead of Arthur. Arthur would just get to be the friend who took Merlin out to get drunk to get him over it.

“I did,” Gwen insisted, as though insulted Arthur would think so little of her. “I said no two times. Then I talked to Merlin and he insisted that it was okay. And now, everything’s screwed up.”

Arthur hadn’t known that, that she’d said no, that Merlin was partially to blame for this.

He didn’t get to tell her that, though, as Lance appeared from one of the buildings. He beamed at Gwen when he arrived but hesitated as he caught sight of Arthur.

“Arthur,” he greeted him, and Arthur couldn’t fault both Gwen and Merlin for liking Lance. He was handsome, nice, charming, had that kind of face that was so sincere it was almost impossible to hate him. Arthur did not, however, feel too warmly towards Lance at the moment, so he merely nodded in return.

“I have another class,” he said instead, turning to Gwen. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” Gwen said, disappointment in her voice as Arthur left them. He didn’t look back, unwilling to bask in their happiness when Merlin was so unhappy.

*

The pub was loud tonight, crowded, but it was a Friday. Leon and Gwaine were already there when Arthur arrived, slipping into their usual booth, a pint already waiting for him.

“Been here long?” Arthur asked, taking a sip.

“Just long enough for that group of girls—” Gwaine pointed at a table a few over where four girls in scandalously short skirts were laughing too loudly “—to get good and drunk.”

“So one shot then?”

Gwaine laughed and nodded. “So where’s Merlin tonight?”

“He’s coming,” Arthur assured them. He’d insisted Merlin stop moping around his flat and come out with them for the first time since he and Lance had broken up. “He better come.”

“How’s he doing?” Leon asked, always the caring one.

Arthur shrugged. “Hard to say. Sometimes better.”

“My offer still stands,” Gwaine cut in. “If he needs a good fuck.”

“No need,” Arthur said easily, turning the handle on his mug around and looking up to find Leon staring at him.

“You didn’t,” Leon said, not a question but a statement.

“What?”

“You did.” Leon groaned as though Arthur had done something horrible.

“It’s completely fine,” Arthur said, shaking his head. It wasn’t like they’d slept together and fallen head over heels in love. It was just sex. They could handle that. “It was fine.”

“Just fine?” Gwaine asked with a leer and an elbow to Arthur’s side.

Leon still looked concerned as Arthur laughed off Gwaine’s question. If there was one thing he wasn’t going to do, it was discuss how good Merlin was in bed with Gwaine and Leon. If it had been any other bloke, he might have told them how Merlin whined whenever Arthur licked down his collar bone, how Merlin could get off without Arthur even touching his cock. But it was Merlin, his friend, and he had enough dignity not to tell his secrets.

“Have you had the talk?” Leon asked, voice serious amongst the shrieks of laughter from the girls at the next table.

Gwaine laughed. “Pretty sure they know about the birds and the bees, Leon.”

Leon ignored him. “I meant the Friends with Benefits talk.”

Arthur waved him away. “That’s not what this is.”

“Then what is it?”

For a second, Arthur opened his mouth but didn’t reply. He hadn’t really thought about it. They’d only gotten off a couple times.

“He just needed someone and I was there for him,” Arthur said at length, jerking his shoulders. They didn’t have to make it complicated.

Leon leaned forward and lowered his voice, which made it hard to hear amongst the loudness of the pub around them. “Is it going to keep happening?”

“How the hell should I know?” Arthur wasn’t too concerned with what he and Merlin were doing.

“You should know,” Leon said, eyebrows furrowed. “You should know exactly what you’re getting into. What the rules are. What you expect from this.”

Arthur didn’t know what to say to that, and he was saved by Gwaine, who rolled his eyes. 

“It’s just a shag, Leon, not marriage. Do you know how many guys I sleep with in a month?”

Leon’s shoulders dropped as though he knew he’d lost. “I can’t even begin to imagine.”

“Exactly,” Gwaine said, shoving his shiny hair back. “And how many of them get all hung up on what we’re doing?”

“None of them are your friend,” Leon replied. “None of them count on you or trust you.”

“They trust me.”

“They trust you to get them off.”

“Look,” Arthur interrupted. “Merlin and I are friends. We slept together a couple times but nothing’s changed. That’s all.”

Leon frowned, not looking convinced. Arthur hadn’t thought of it that hard, and he honestly didn’t want to. As soon as people labeled things, they got complicated.

Arthur caught sight of Merlin peering through the crowd at the door.

“He’s here, okay? Don’t say anything about this and don’t bring up Lance, whatever you do.”

Leon seemed to nod, resigned at least for Merlin’s sake. Gwaine didn’t even appear to be listening, waving Merlin over and tugging him into the booth with a grin.

“Hey, Merlin, long time. Thought maybe your weird roommate offed you.”

Merlin, to his credit, smiled at Gwaine and shook his head. “Just didn’t feel like getting out much. This one made me.” He nodded at Arthur.

“Can’t have you turning into a cave person.” Arthur raised his glass to Merlin, who rolled his eyes.

See? Nothing had changed at all.

“Drinks!” Gwaine said loudly. “We need more.” He clambered off to the bar and Leon shot Arthur a significant glance before scooting out after him.

“I should probably help before he spills all over some poor stranger.”

Left alone with Merlin, Arthur couldn’t help thinking how unsubtle his friends were.

Merlin merely smiled at Arthur. “What’s up?”

Arthur shook his head. Leon was being stupid. They didn’t need to talk about this, right? It was obvious what it was… right?

Shit, maybe they should talk about it.

“Merlin,” he said finally, shifting uncomfortably. He hated talking about things. “You’re okay with, uh, what we’ve been doing, right?”

Merlin tilted his head to the side, as if confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the sex,” Arthur said, as unbluntly as he could, watching Merlin blink, surprised.

“Oh,” he said, a purse to his lips. “I mean, yeah, I guess. Why? Are you not okay with it?”

“No,” Arthur said quickly. “I just mean, we’re friends, right?”

“Right,” Merlin agreed, and God, this was getting weird. He shouldn’t have said anything. Leon was wrong again.

“Right,” Arthur echoed again, and Merlin’s eyebrows furrowed like he wasn’t quite sure what Arthur was trying to say.

“Okay.”

Gwaine reappeared with another round for everyone at that moment, saving Arthur from having to articulate exactly what he meant. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure. He shouldn’t let Leon get in his head. Everything was fine with Merlin and it would stay fine if he had his way.

*

Arthur’s phone rang shrilly next to his ear and he jerked awake, answering it before he even realized what was happening.

“’Lo?” he drawled, blinking his eyes open and squinting into the pitch blackness of his room.

“Hey.” Merlin’s voice greeted him on the other end.

Arthur frowned. Almost no one called him any more. Everyone just texted. “Merlin?” he asked, rubbing at his eyes and rolling onto his back. “What time is it?”

“Almost three.”

“In the morning?” Arthur groaned. “Is something wrong?” Why else would Merlin call him in the middle of the night.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Merlin said on the other end, a sigh following his words.

Arthur closed his eyes again, the phone held loosely in his hand. “And you thought you’d deprive me of sleep too because you’re a sadist?”

“I was thinking.”

“Uh oh.”

Arthur could practically hear Merlin’s eye roll through the phone. 

“What did you mean when you said we were friends?”

Arthur opened his eyes. Shit. He’d thought that conversation was over. “That we’re friends,” he said simply. 

“What did you really mean?”

Groaning, Arthur covered his face with his hand. He didn’t want to do this. “It’s really late. Can’t we do this tomorrow?”

“No,” Merlin replied, much to Arthur’s disappointment. “I won’t be able to sleep until you tell me.”

Resigned, Arthur dropped his hand. “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about the situation and how we don’t want to screw up our friendship, right?”

“Uh huh,” Merlin said slowly. “What are you saying then?”

Arthur licked his lips and sighed, cursing Leon for ever bringing this up. “Maybe we should talk about what we’re doing.”

Merlin paused. “What are we doing?”

“I don’t know,” Arthur admitted. “We slept together.”

“We did,” Merlin agreed. “Though I think you did it mostly so I would stop talking about Lance.”

Arthur smiled to himself. “True. But it wasn’t bad.”

“No, it wasn’t bad,” Merlin said, as though he was thinking about something. “So do you want to keep doing it?”

Arthur hadn’t expected Merlin to ask that question. He hadn’t expected he’d ever have to have an answer to that question.

“It wasn’t terrible, having someone to get off with,” he said finally. “No strings. Total freedom.”

Merlin didn’t reply for a long minute, and Arthur wondered if he’d said too much.

“So it’d just be sex,” Merlin said finally, “whenever we wanted?”

“I guess.” Arthur had never had an arrangement like this. He wasn’t sure how they were supposed to work.

“Hm,” Merlin said, and Arthur knew he was considering the proposal. “Okay.”

“Okay?” That was fast, Arthur admitted. He’d thought Merlin would consider it a little longer, but maybe Merlin was ready to move on from Lance.

“Yeah,” Merlin said simply. “We could do this.”

“Alright.” Arthur smiled, rolling onto his stomach. “So does that make this your first official booty call?” 

“Arthur,” Merlin said, a frown in his voice.

“You woke me up at three in the morning,” Arthur pointed out. “What are you going to do about that?”

“I’m gonna go to bed,” Merlin said, “and you can take care of yourself.”

“Tease. Already I can tell this is not going to be fair.”

“Goodnight, Arthur,” Merlin said firmly, and Arthur shook his head.

“Text me later.”

He hung up the phone, sliding it across the bedside table and sighing into the pillow. As he lay there, his eyes opened. He hoped he hadn’t just made a huge mistake.

*

The library was a musty old building tucked away in a corner of the grounds, almost as an afterthought for a university that was supposed to be top in research. It wasn’t often that Arthur found himself at a table practically buried behind shelves of books about mathematics. It was the only table Arthur liked in the place, tucked out of sight.

Case in point, he and Merlin had been there half an hour and he hadn’t seen one other person pass by. Flipping through the book in front of him, he sighed. He wasn’t completely sure how he’d ended up in an art history class this semester—some elective his adviser had said he’d had to take to finish. His only consolation was that Merlin loved history of all kinds and was all too willing to help him out with his essay.

“This is fascinating,” Merlin muttered, looking up from the book he was reading from. “You should have told me you were taking this class. I could have taken it with you.”

“At least I’d have someone to nap on,” Arthur replied, shutting the book in front of him. To be honest, he wasn’t thinking about the essay. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Morgana and the fact that Uther had called him the other day, mostly to gripe about Cenred and ask if Arthur thought she was being serious, and how she couldn’t possibly be serious. The whole conversation had ended with Uther telling Arthur he was sending him information on a doctoral program at Oxford.

Merlin scoffed. “I don’t know how you expect to grow up to be cultured if you don’t appreciate culture.”

“I appreciate culture. Just not dead painters.” This was the kind of class Uther would have expected him to take just so he would have something to talk about at work functions in the future.

Merlin paused, glancing up at him, and it almost annoyed Arthur that Merlin could now tell when things were bothering him. The only other person who could do that was Morgana, and that unnerved him more than anything when she did it.

“What’s going on?”

Arthur shook his head. It wasn’t really worth going into since he couldn’t do anything to fix it. “Just the usual. Morgana’s dating someone Uther can’t stand, and I’m sure she’s going to bring him to the next cocktail hour to rub his nose in it.”

Uther’s quarterly cocktail hours were something Arthur dreaded, but Uther practically demanded he attend, perhaps as some sort of precursor to taking over the business, even if Arthur had no plans of doing that.

“When’s the next one?”

“About a month,” Arthur replied, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. The library was silent around them, any footsteps muffled by carpet.

“Maybe they’ll break up by then,” Merlin suggested, but they both knew it was a pointless idea.

“She’d never let that happen,” Arthur said, shoving his book away. “I just don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s going to drive me crazy.”

For a second, Merlin said nothing, apparently thinking. “I know how to get your mind off it,” he said finally, and Arthur looked up.

“You do?” He was almost skeptical. Merlin was the king of over-thinking and obsessing about life’s problems. He certainly wasn’t expecting Merlin to almost smirk and slide off his chair and under the table.

They hadn’t really discussed anything more beyond that three AM conversation, and Arthur had honestly tried not to think about it since it had happened or else he might let Leon in his head, Leon’s little voice warning about the consequences of sleeping with friends.

“Merlin?” he asked as he felt Merlin thumbing open his jeans, tugging them over his thighs. Glancing around quickly, he wondered for the first time how alone they really were. The carpet muffled footsteps but there were gaps between shelves, and there was no guarantee someone might not come along searching for a calculus book.

“This is what we agreed, isn’t it?” Merlin asked from beneath the table. Arthur couldn’t see him, but he could feel Merlin’s breath ghosting along his prick, almost like a secret.

“Uh,” he said instead of answering, distracted by Merlin’s palms sliding over his thighs, nudging them apart, and the blood rushing into his cock as though he had no control over it.

Fuck, he had no idea if they’d agreed to sex in a three hundred year old library, Merlin under the table, leaning in and sliding his tongue up Arthur’s length.

Arthur’s fingers clenched around his pen and he forced himself to let out a breath, eyes darting around to make sure no one was about to stumble around a corner and see what was probably a precarious position. The thought just served to make him harder under Merlin’s mouth pressing soft kisses to the ridges in his cock, licking over the tip and sucking gently as Arthur focused on his breathing and not on choking Merlin with his dick.

Merlin’s fingers slid along Arthur’s balls, massaging as he leaned in further, and Arthur felt the warm, wet heat of his mouth enveloping him. He allowed his eyes to close for a second, sinking into the feeling of Merlin’s mouth on him, the way Merlin went all the way in without warning, the vibration as Merlin hummed softly around him.

“Fuck,” Arthur cursed under his breath, forcing his eyes open, dropping the pen. It rolled off the table and onto the floor.

They had to be quick, and Merlin seemed to know that as he sped up, bobbing up and down, bathing Arthur’s cock with spit, sucking so hard that Arthur’s thighs jumped and he bit back a groan.

Merlin moved to the underside, mouthing along the length, sucking at his balls as Arthur leaned over the table, silently cursing Merlin’s mouth. This was one way to get him to shut up

His prick throbbed under Merlin’s touch, Merlin’s hand gripping the base as he went back to sucking on the tip, fast and insistent, licking up the length, going all the way in until Arthur leaned back in his chair and felt the pressure release, coming in Merlin’s hand, Merlin’s tongue sliding down as Arthur’s prick twitched and his whole body stiffened.

Letting out a breath, Arthur slumped in his chair, not bothering to check for eavesdroppers, watching Merlin emerge on the other side of the table, wiping at his mouth, a flush on the back of his neck. The openness got the better of Arthur, though, and he quickly pulled his jeans back up over his soft cock.

Merlin just smiled as Arthur met his gaze. “Sufficiently distracted?”

Arthur laughed. “If I’d known this was all it took to shut you up, I would have suggested it a long time ago.”

Merlin rolled his eyes and shoved a book across the table at Arthur. “You should probably get back to that essay before you fail out of university.”

Arthur shook his head, but he took the book Merlin pushed his way. He did sneak a glance at Merlin, though, as he flipped it open. Merlin wasn’t looking at him, scrolling through his phone, and Arthur smiled to himself. They should have started doing this a long time ago. This had been a great idea.

*

Great, great idea, Arthur thought, fingers tightening over Merlin’s back, skin slick with sweat, Merlin’s mouth pressed to the crook of Arthur’s neck as he moved in his lap, fucking himself too fast, but Merlin had class in fifteen minutes and Arthur was only thinking about leaving marks all over Merlin’s collar bone.

“Oh God,” Merlin muttered, lips hot against Arthur’s skin, and Arthur pushed up, deeper inside Merlin, muffling his groan in Merlin’s chest. “There, right _there_.”

Great, great idea, Arthur thought as Merlin came on his chest, fingers digging into Arthur’s shoulder, damp breath against his neck, licking the sweat at Arthur’s temple.

Best idea ever.

*

Arthur was going to come. He was going to come so hard, closing his eyes, a hand tight on the back of Merlin’s neck as Merlin’s tongue slid over his nipple. _Fuck_ , his whole body felt on fire, nerves tingling as Merlin’s fingers crooked inside his ass, pushing in and out, slick with lube.

“Merlin,” he groaned, not shoving Merlin from his chest, groaning encouragements as Merlin bit down on his nipple, smoothing a second later with his tongue.

Merlin’s other hand, the one not sparking too many nerve endings deep inside him, squeezed his prick and Arthur cursed, breathless.

“Fuck, fuck,” Arthur moaned, arching into Merlin’s mouth, off the sofa, so close, so close to losing it.

“Mmm,” Merlin hummed against his skin, straddling Arthur’s lap, the fabric of his trousers too rough against Arthur’s cock, too much friction, too much.

As Merlin’s tongue circled Arthur’s nipple again, Arthur lost it, lost what little control he had left, coming hard in Merlin’s hand, fingers mussing Merlin’s hair as he gripped it tight, arching into Merlin’s grip and shuddering as pleasure washed over him for the third time that week.

*

Arthur had Merlin on his knees, ass in the air, face red and buried in Arthur’s pillow, not enough to muffle the words coming out of his mouth.

“Oh, fuck, Arthur, God,” Merlin panted as Arthur let his tongue slide over Merlin’s entrance, sucking and licking until Merlin’s skin was slick with spit and Merlin was just cursing over and over again.

Arthur’s prick throbbed once, eager, hard against his stomach, already leaking in anticipation. Arthur smoothed his hands down the backs of Merlin’s thighs that trembled when he pressed his tongue inside him.

“Just—please, _fuck_ ,” Merlin managed to gasp, and Arthur liked him like this, breathless, willing, eager for Arthur’s cock inside him.

He could tease him a bit longer, but Arthur needed to get off too, after a long day of classes and Uther’s increasingly annoying reminders about grades and studying.

The condom and lube were already out, and Arthur wasted no time pulling Merlin’s hips back, biting at the peak of Merlin’s shoulder as he slid inside, listening to Merlin’s satisfied exhale.

On the mattress, his phone pinged with a text and Arthur glanced over.

“Ignore it,” Merlin said, grinding his hips back, as though he just couldn’t wait. Arthur almost did as a sudden wave of heat hit him, Merlin’s muscles clenching around him, but he grabbed the phone off the mattress, steadying Merlin’s hips with a hand.

“It’s Leon,” he said, pulling up the text, giving Merlin a little shove with his hips, a tiny rock that was almost not enough, a teasing heat in his belly. “He wants to know if we’re coming to the pub tonight.”

Admittedly, Arthur had skipped out on the last pub night when Merlin had showed up with a case of beer and a sad, period romance movie. In between blow jobs, Arthur deduced that Merlin had seen Gwen and Lance holding hands at a coffee shop. He didn’t even remember what the movie had been about.

Merlin didn’t reply, too busy trying to get Arthur to move his hips, rocking back, grinding his ass down like he didn’t care at all about Leon’s invitation.

It was the ‘we’ that caught Arthur’s attention, as if Leon assumed Merlin would come with him, like they were a couple or something. Arthur’s gaze fell, over the pale expanse of Merlin’s back, up to his shoulders, the bite mark still visible, pink and fading as Merlin rolled his hips back, fucking himself on Arthur’s prick without a second thought to the _Are you and Merlin coming tonight_ text on Arthur’s screen.

Fuck it. He shouldn’t have been over-thinking this, Arthur told himself, tossing the phone aside without answering Leon.

Instead, he thrust deep inside Merlin, drawing out a long groan, peppering kisses over Merlin’s back, dragging his lips over his skin as he rocked his hips against Merlin’s ass and didn’t think about what it meant that he’d spent more time with Merlin in the past couple weeks than he had spent with any other guy he’d fucked in the past six months.

Reaching for Merlin’s cock, he stroked it in time with his thrusts, dragging his thumb over the tip, watching the way Merlin bowed his head, biting his bottom lip then letting his mouth drop open as he exhaled a curse.

Merlin’s skin was soft, warm, under Arthur’s hands gripping his hips, pushing inside, not thinking about how often they’d been doing this, just thinking about how good it felt inside Merlin, how he could come just like this, how he was going to come as Merlin’s muscles tightened around his prick.

“Harder,” Merlin breathed, hands bunching Arthur’s sheets. “Fuck me harder.”

“Shit,” Arthur muttered as he shifted, pushing in harder, faster, closer, the only sounds left in the room their mutual panted breaths, the slick sound of their skin coming together.

Arthur felt more than saw Merlin come, a sudden tightness around his cock, the way Merlin’s shoulders stiffened for half a second and he let out a shaky breath a second later.

Reaching down, Arthur stroked Merlin through it, cock wet and sticky in his hand, and Arthur let his mouth drag over Merlin’s shoulder, breath puffing onto his skin as he thrust inside, so close.

Merlin merely hummed, satisfied, as Arthur pulled on his cock, as Arthur drove his prick deep inside him. Arthur could feel the throb of Merlin’s muscles around his dick, the tightness in his stomach, the ripple of heat starting in his chest and spreading down to his cock as the friction built until his mouth fell open and he came, still inside Merlin, pleasure rolling over him.

He slapped Merlin’s ass gently as he pulled out, rolling onto his back as Merlin collapsed beside him. Leon’s text still weighed on his mind as he lay there, trying to enjoy the momentary afterglow.

“So how was it?” he asked finally, glancing at Merlin beside him.

Merlin paused thoughtfully. “I think I like rimming.”

Arthur snorted, rolling onto his side to face Merlin. “How is it that you’ve never tried it before?”

Merlin shrugged. “Not like I had a lot of opportunity for experimenting in Secondary. I only had two friends, Gwen and Will. I was probably the only gay kid in town, and even if I hadn’t been, they wouldn’t have wanted to date me.”

“But you’ve had two years at Uni, and I know you slept with some guys in first year.”

Arthur had always thought the guys Merlin chose to sleep with that first year had been total gits, and he’d told Merlin has much back then, much to Merlin’s annoyance.

“It was just regular sex,” Merlin said with another shrug, tilting his chin to meet Arthur’s gaze.

Merlin had really blue eyes. Arthur had always known that but he’d never really thought about it, not until Merlin was looking up at him, skin still flushed from sex, the pillow cradling his head. Shaking away the sudden flutter in his stomach, he looked anywhere but Merlin’s eyes, letting his gaze travel over his chest instead.

“How is it that you had only two friends? You make friends with everyone you meet here.”

“I was poor,” Merlin said simply. “I lived on the edge of town with my single-mum who worked all time so she was never home. I studied too much. I said the wrong things all the time. Take your pick. You wouldn’t have been friends with me back then. The star footie player.” Merlin arched his eyebrows playfully.

“Maybe not,” Arthur admitted. “But I was an idiot back then.”

Merlin laughed, setting his hands on his stomach, as though they weren’t both still naked, as though he hadn’t come over to proofread Arthur’s essay, and instead, they’d ended up here.

“And you’re not one now? We’re only friends because…” He paused, tilting his head to the side. “Why are we friends?”

“Because you wouldn’t leave me alone,” Arthur pointed out. “And you were always disagreeing with me about everything. You thought you were so much smarter than me.”

“And you thought you were so much better than me,” Merlin replied, pushing his hair from his eyes and sighing. “So posh and rich and good-looking.”

Arthur’s eyebrow went up. “Good-looking?”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Merlin said, frowning and pushing himself up. Arthur sat up with him, not letting Merlin get up quite yet.

He set his chin over Merlin’s shoulder instead. “It’s not like I didn’t know you thought so. ‘ _Oh, Arthur, harder, fuck, please,_ ’” he mocked in Merlin’s ear, wrapping an arm around Merlin’s stomach and laughing when Merlin squirmed.

“You’re really not that funny,” Merlin replied, turning towards Arthur, their lips inches from each other. Arthur was two seconds from closing the distance, but Merlin wiggled out of his grip, gathering his clothes from the floor.

Arthur felt a brief flash of unexpected disappointment, unbidden, surprising as Merlin pulled on his shirt.

“So you coming to the pub?” he asked instead of acknowledging that weird feeling deep inside his chest.

“I don’t know,” Merlin said, buttoning his jeans. “I have a lot of homework to do.” He shot a glance at Arthur, quick, not lingering.

“Okay,” Arthur agreed as Merlin checked his phone. “Text me later then.”

“Yeah,” Merlin said shortly, leaving Arthur’s bedroom door open behind him as he left.

Flopping on the bed, Arthur didn’t let himself think about Merlin as the front door shut, reaching for his phone and texting Leon back that it would be just him tonight.

*

Arthur couldn’t get the ‘you and Merlin’ out of his head as he sat in the booth next to Gwaine, who was busy scanning the pub for a hot bloke to hit on. It wasn’t like they were a package, like one didn’t come without the other. Logically, he knew, probably, that Leon hadn’t meant it like that, but it was stuck.

“Why’d you ask me if Merlin was coming tonight?” he asked abruptly, interrupting Gwaine’s running commentary on all the available blokes in the bar.

Leon’s mug was half empty and he drank a little more before answering. “You’re usually the one who gets him to come.”

It was true. Most of the time, Merlin wasn’t really interested in pubs unless Arthur dragged him out. It wasn’t as if Leon had known Arthur was with Merlin when he texted.

“You ready to kiss and tell yet?” Gwaine asked, tuning into the conversation and nudging Arthur’s side playfully. “How’s the sex?”

“I’m not telling you,” Arthur replied simply despite Gwaine’s groan.

“That bad, huh? I always thought shagging your best mate would be good, since you already like each other and all.”

“It’s not like that,” Arthur said, although he wasn’t sure what exactly it _was_ like.

“You don’t like each other?” Gwaine asked. “All that fighting last year wasn’t just foreplay?”

Arthur laughed, once, derisive. That was the most ridiculous thing he’d heard from Gwaine, and Gwaine said a lot of ridiculous things.

“You’re out of your mind, Gwaine.”

“I think I’m right in it,” Gwaine said knowingly, and Arthur didn’t want to ask what he meant by that. He didn’t want to think that even Gwaine might be right. He could handle Leon being right, but Gwaine? That was another story.

“So Merlin isn’t coming tonight, right?” Leon asked, and Arthur glanced at him and the way he smiled back, almost nervous.

“Why?”

“Well,” Leon said, but he broke off as he caught sight of someone behind Arthur.

Twisting to look, Arthur’s stomach sank as he saw Lance’s mop of brown hair, the dimple in his cheek as he smiled. Quickly, he turned back to Leon.

“You invited him?” he asked. So far, Arthur had avoided being around Lance since he and Merlin had broken up. For Merlin’s sake, of course, and because he couldn’t help the anger that welled up inside him when he thought of how much Lance had hurt Merlin.

Leon had the good grace to grimace apologetically. “Gwen asked me and—”

“You couldn’t say no,” Arthur finished, slumping in his seat.

“Could you?”

When it came to Lance, Arthur was pretty sure he could, even to Gwen and her pleading eyes. He didn’t say anything, though, as Lance stepped up to the booth, hovering slightly awkwardly as though he wasn’t sure he was welcome.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted them, casting Arthur a worried glance.

“Lance,” Leon replied with a smile warmer than Arthur would be able to conjure. “Sit down.”

A part of Arthur understood it, the awkward position Lance was in, still dating someone in their circle but not on good terms with everyone anymore. Arthur was clearly more on Merlin’s side than anyone else, but he’d had to listen to Merlin’s lament for a good time longer than anyone else had, and his opinion of Lance had been significantly altered from the first time they’d met and Merlin had grinned so brightly it nearly blinded Arthur.

“It’s been a long time since I was here with you guys,” Lance said, watching Arthur take a long drink.

Arthur was biting his tongue for once. He couldn’t just come out and say what a shitty thing Lance had done to Merlin, ask how he could have been so careless with Merlin’s feelings. Merlin was better off, Arthur had decided. Better off without Lance, a guy who could just fall in love so easily with someone else.

Besides, if Merlin and Lance hadn’t broken up, Arthur wouldn’t be having some of the best sex of his life right now. He took comfort in that thought as Leon broke the awkward silence and Gwaine shot Arthur a look.

“Good thing you don’t like Merlin or he’d be here right now, wouldn’t he?” Gwaine muttered in his ear. Arthur shot him a glare instead of replying. Gwaine was just an idiot.

*

Arthur lay awake in bed, watching the slit of yellow light on the wall, coming from the gap in the curtains. He’d managed to get through the evening without telling Lance exactly what he thought of him at the moment. He couldn’t sleep, though, mind too busy replaying everything Gwaine and Leon had said to him about Merlin.

They were friends, and that was it. They’d barely achieved that status after last year.

His phone vibrated on the table next to the bed, screen lighting up, and Arthur grabbed it.

_How was the pub?_

It was from Merlin, and Arthur rolled his eyes fondly. Only Merlin would text to ask when he could have gone.

 _It’s late_ , Arthur wrote back instead. _Shouldn’t you be asleep?_

The little dots on the screen lit up, Merlin typing a reply, and Arthur didn’t set his phone down, waiting.

_You told me to text you later. It’s later._

_It’s also late._

_You weren’t asleep._

Arthur smiled to himself. He hadn’t been asleep, true, too caught up in other people’s judgments. He hesitated, thumbs hovering over the keys.

 _Were you thinking of me?_ he wrote before he thought about it too much. It was just flirting, like they always did.

 _Just how annoying you are_ , came Merlin’s reply. Then, _And how good you are at rimming._

It was amazing, how fast blood could flow to his dick from just a few words on a screen. Arthur shifted, sliding a hand down his chest, playing gently with a nipple as he typed in a careful reply.

_You liked my tongue in your ass?_

Merlin’s reply took a second, the bubble pulsing on the screen. When his reply did come through, all it said was, _Yeah._

Arthur wanted to close his eyes and picture Merlin lying alone in his bedroom, phone on his chest, a hand wrapped around his cock, but he had to keep typing.

 _You have a great ass._ Then, _I wish I was inside you right now._

Arthur knew, in the back of his mind, that he probably shouldn’t have written that, but his own hand was sliding down, under his boxers to where his cock was tenting the fabric, the tip wet as he thought of Merlin sinking down on top of him, Merlin’s mouth sliding along his jaw, groaning into his ear.

 _Fuck,_ was Merlin’s reply, simple but enough that Arthur knew he was jerking off too, probably biting down on the pillow to keep quiet, so his flatmates wouldn’t hear him. _You want me to come?_ Merlin sent a minute later, and Arthur bit his lip as he jerked himself off faster.

How long had Merlin been waiting to text him? Had he already been hard when he sent the first message? 

_Not yet,_ Arthur typed back, fingers tripping over the keys as he sighed, squeezing his prick, not quite there yet. Just a few more minutes, a few more minutes picturing Merlin’s mouth grazing down his body, lapping at the birthmark on his hip, teeth scraping along his inner thigh.

His phone pinged a few times as he had his eyes closed, gripping his cock tightly, jerking as fast as he could. When he looked, there were three messages in a row from Merlin.

_Jesus I need to come_  
Can’t stop thinking about this  
Arthur please fuck 

Arthur sucked in a sharp breath, hips jerking up, prick pulsing against his fingers, hot and heavy and not slick enough without lube. He fumbled for his phone.

_Fuck yes come come for me._

He couldn’t see Merlin, couldn’t hear him, but he could imagine it, Merlin’s hips pushing off the bed, strings of white come covering his stomach, his chest moving quickly as he panted for breath.

“Shit,” Arthur muttered to himself as he came unexpectedly, his orgasm rippling through him in a way it usually didn’t when he was alone. The phone dropped from his hand, somewhere onto the bed, and he moaned softly as he stroked his still-hard prick until he shuddered, skin sensitive, and took a deep breath.

It took a minute to come back to his senses, digging the phone out from underneath him, but Merlin hadn’t written anything else. Arthur started to type, but he wasn’t sure what to write either. 

Sexting. That was new for them.

Not two hours ago, Arthur had insisted to Gwaine that he didn’t like Merlin like that, but as he lay there, come cooling on his stomach, his last message glowing on the screen, he began to wonder if he was wrong. Maybe sex had triggered some deep-seated feelings of more than an antagonistic friendship with Merlin.

That was ridiculous, he told himself, shoving his phone face-down on the table. He was just helping distract Merlin from his breakup with mind-blowing sex. Like any good friend would do.

Stupid Leon with his ‘expectations’ talk and Gwaine and his ‘foreplay’ suggestion. Annoyed, Arthur rolled over and shut his eyes. He wasn’t getting attached to Merlin and that was that.

*

Arthur was late to meet Merlin at the cafe. His professor had decided today was the day he would talk five minutes over the allotted class time.

Arthur was never one to hurry, though, even if he was late, but he made his way through the crowd of students leaving the building and headed for the cafe closest to the grounds. The sound of his phone ringing cut through the jabber of conversation and he pulled it out, fully expecting to see Merlin’s name, ready to complain that he was late.

Instead, it was Morgana’s name and he hesitated, debating whether or not he really wanted to know why she was calling.

In the end, he pressed the green button and held up the phone to his ear, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he walked. “What do you want?”

Morgana ignored his less-than-polite greeting. “Are you coming to the cocktail hour next week?” she asked and Arthur grimaced. He’d been trying to forget about it.

“I suppose I have to,” he said, resigned. It was usually just several hours of pretending to be interested in whatever latest trip the board members had been on. Hours of avoiding Uther introducing him to the many eligible women he’d invited that time. “You’re not bringing Cenred, are you?”

“Of course I am,” she said simply, and Arthur could practically hear the smugness in her voice. 

He paused at an intersection, waiting for the cars to disappear before crossing.

“What exactly are you trying to prove to Uther?”

“It’s not always about proving a point,” she said. “I like Cenred. So I’m bringing him. You should bring someone you like, cut off Uther before he gets the chance to set you up with five Vivian lookalikes.”

Arthur couldn’t argue that it would be nice not to have to meet girl after girl, all blonde, all practically identical as far as he was concerned. The daughter of someone important, heir to some fortune or other.

He couldn’t just bring anyone to a party like that, though. They’d be blindsided by Uther’s coldness, and it would be like setting them up, like using them. Arthur wouldn’t do that to some poor stranger.

Anyone who went with him would have to know what they were getting into.

“I can’t just bring some random bloke and let Uther beat them down.”

Morgana sighed, as though she was disappointed in his lack of spine. Arthur had plenty of spine, but Uther was stubborn, as stubborn as he was, and it would have to be the right person to make that kind of a statement.

“Well, you can watch my fireworks anyway, if you don’t want to make your own. I’ll see you there.”

Arthur hung up the phone, finally reaching the cafe and ducking inside. For once, Merlin was there first, sitting at a table by the window, a cup of coffee on the table before him. He flashed Arthur a smile as Arthur made his way over.

“Class went long,” was all Arthur said as he took the seat opposite Merlin.

Merlin merely nodded, unwrapping a sugar cube and dropping it in his mug. Little bits of coffee splashed onto the plate.

They hadn’t talked about it, the other night, the texts still sitting in Arthur’s messages.

 _Just sex, just sex, just sex_ , Arthur told himself as he watched Merlin stir his drink. That was all it was. It wasn’t anything else despite the strange curl in his stomach when Merlin met his eyes and smiled.

“You’ll never guess what Gilli has this time,” Merlin said, and Arthur’s chest unclenched slightly, the worry that Merlin might bring it up, that he’d have to have an answer about why he found himself thinking of Merlin at random times, not just thinking about shagging, but also about the freckles on his shoulder, the way Merlin always put his left shoe on first, the way Merlin’s smile lit up his whole face.

Jesus, he was fucked.

“What?” he asked, pushing it aside. He shouldn’t have been thinking about Merlin at all except as his annoying friend who never shut up and always had a sarcastic comeback to his insults.

“It’s this thing called an axolotl. It’s this weird, slimy salamander thing. I don’t where he got it, or how, and I’m a little afraid to ask.” Merlin pulled up a picture on his phone and showed Arthur. “I mean, it is kind of cute in that Guillermo del Toro sea monster sort of way, but still.”

Arthur wouldn’t have called the pale animal on the screen cute, even with its tentacle-like ears and tiny mouth that looked as if it was smiling.

“You’re saying you want to fuck a salamander?” Arthur asked, handing back the phone and arching an eyebrow at Merlin. He could do this. This was easy, teasing Merlin, watching his ears go red as he jerked the phone back.

“No. Prat.”

Arthur laughed as Merlin tucked his phone away. “I’m not judging your kinks. People are into a lot of weird shit these days.”

“I don’t want to fuck an animal,” Merlin replied, deadpan. 

Arthur leaned across the table despite himself, too easy to make Merlin flush when he asked, “So what are your kinks?”

He knew better. His brain knew better than to ask, but his mouth never seemed to listen to his brain when it should.

For a moment, Merlin didn’t respond, looking at Arthur as though sizing him up, as though determining whether or not he should say anything. Arthur found himself on the edge of his seat. He wanted to know exactly what it would take to make Merlin come apart underneath him. Was it bondage? Voyeurism? Facials? Arthur had to know.

He didn’t get to find out, though, when someone stepped up to their table and Merlin’s face went blank.

It was two people. Lance and Gwen.

Their hands were laced together, but they pulled quickly apart as Merlin’s gaze dropped. Arthur wasn’t looking at Gwen or Lance. He was watching Merlin, the tiny strain at the corner of his mouth, the way his eyes darted to Arthur first as though looking for reassurance.

“Hey, guys,” Gwen greeted them, a little too upbeat, but Arthur bet her heart was probably beating just as fast as Merlin’s was as they let the awkward moment wash over them.

“Hi,” Arthur said finally when no one else spoke. Lance, to his credit, looked uneasy about the whole situation, guilty, unsure.

“How’s everything?” Lance asked, looking at Merlin, who managed to shrug.

“It’s okay,” he answered, and Arthur thought Merlin ought to be commended for being able to talk to Lance considering what he’d done the last time he’d seen him—run away.

“What are you guys up to?” Gwen asked brightly, as though she could make the situation better simply by being positive.

“Having coffee,” Merlin said, although Arthur didn’t have a cup in front of him.

“Right, good,” she said, forcing a smile. “Good.” She glanced at Lance and then at Arthur as though hoping someone might make the moment less awkward somehow. “Well, Lance and I just got out of a movie. They’re playing Emma at the theater downtown, you know, the one with Gweneth Paltrow.”

“Isn’t that the one where she realizes she’s in love with her best friend?” Arthur asked, wishing he could take it back the minute the words were out of his mouth. He avoided Merlin’s gaze as Gwen nodded.

“We used to watch it all the time, right, Merlin?”

Merlin seemed to tear his gaze from Arthur. “Yeah.”

In love with his best friend, Arthur thought. Not possible.

“We should get our coffees to go,” Gwen said as the silence lingered at the table. “It was good seeing you. Both of you.”

Merlin let her leave without stopping her and Arthur chanced a glance at him. He didn’t seem sad, but Gwen and Lance were still in the room, placing their orders. Once they had left, Arthur turned to Merlin.

“You okay?” He hoped this wouldn’t set Merlin back. He’d finally stopped talking about Lance, stopped reminiscing about what could have been. Arthur wouldn’t admit to the tiny pang in his chest as he thought that Merlin might still be hung up on Lance.

Merlin sighed, staring down at his mug. He looked up finally. “Yeah,” he said at length. “I think I am okay.”

“Really?” Arthur asked, doubtful, crushing that bubble of hope deep inside him. “You didn’t want to bolt out the door the minute you saw them?”

“I did,” Merlin admitted. “For a minute. But then, I don’t know, it was like, I didn’t feel bad anymore.”

“That’s good!” Arthur said, pasting on a smile. “You finally did it. After almost two months.”

Merlin nodded. “And a lot of sex.”

Arthur smiled for real this time. “And a lot of sex.”

Merlin smiled back at him, and Arthur had to look away as his chest did an unexpected flop, like his heart was banging on his chest, trying desperately to tell him something. He wasn’t going to listen, though. Nothing good could come from developing feelings for Merlin.

“So you wanna go see Emma?” Merlin asked and Arthur laughed.

“How about I get myself a cup of coffee and get you a refill?” he said instead, and Merlin shrugged in agreement.

“Don’t forget the sugar,” Merlin told him as Arthur stood up. Arthur never forgot the sugar.

*

Arthur was determined to get over this. It was just a passing feeling. Some strange emotional attachment that came from the combination of it being _Merlin_ and the sex and how easy everything was. That was really all.

“You want a drink?” Gwaine yelled over the thudding music of the club.

Maybe that was why Arthur had agreed to go out to one of the gay clubs in town with Gwaine, because whatever he was feeling for Merlin was nothing. Normally, he avoided going to clubs with Gwaine because Gwaine tended to ditch him for the first hot bloke he found.

Arthur needed a drink, though, and he didn’t want it to be in the usual pub. He wanted it to be surrounded by fit guys who actually wanted to sleep with him. He nodded at Gwaine. “Make it a double!”

Gwaine beckoned the bartender over, shouting drink orders over the music. Arthur took the opportunity to scan the club, the guys in tight shirts, the awkward ones in glasses and baggy jeans, the guys leering at each other from the dance floor.

“Long day?” Gwaine asked as he returned with two glasses of something. Arthur didn’t ask what. It burned on the way down.

“Long month,” he replied, setting his empty glass on the counter behind them. Leaning back, he let interested parties check him out, well aware that several guys were trying to catch his eye.

Gwaine glanced at him, curious. “You mean sex with Merlin hasn’t chilled you out yet?”

Gwaine was the last person Arthur should have been considering saying this to, but he was better than Leon, who would just say that he told Arthur so. Actually, Leon was too nice to say that, but he’d be thinking it.

“I need you to be serious for a minute,” he said, and Gwaine’s eyebrows rose into his hairline.

“I can be serious, I can be serious,” Gwaine assured him after a second. “What is it?”

Arthur hesitated. Once he said, he couldn’t take it back. There was no better way to say it, though, than surrounded by club kids and flashing neon lights.

“I think I might, maybe, like Merlin,” he admitted, immediately annoyed when Gwaine barked out a laugh. “I said serious, Gwaine!”

Gwaine waved a hand, closing his mouth. “I’m sorry. It’s just funny considering how much you protested the other night.”

Arthur was well aware of the irony. “It’s actually not funny because Merlin is my friend and I am not supposed to like him like this.”

Gwaine nodded, seeming to think for a moment. “I can see where that would be a problem. But have you considered that maybe he likes you?”

Rolling his eyes, Arthur shook his head. “It was just to help him get over Lance. It was just sex.”

“And that’s what you told yourself, wasn’t it?” Gwaine pointed out, unhelpful even when serious. When Arthur merely frowned at him, he slung an arm over his shoulder. “Mate, the way I see it, you’ve got two choices. Either you tell him how you feel or you break it off.”

Neither of those sounded appealing to Arthur, even though he knew Gwaine was right. He hated when Gwaine was right.

“In the meantime,” Gwaine said, mouth too close to Arthur’s ear, “my advice is to take one of these blokes checking you out and use them to get over Merlin.” He patted Arthur’s shoulder as he downed his drink, eyes already on someone across the room. “I’m going to get a little distraction of my own. Be good!” he called as he left Arthur at the bar.

As Arthur leaned against the bar, aware of several sets of eyes on him, he found he didn’t want to hook up with any of the guys in this club. He just wanted Merlin, and that was the problem.

*

The one thing Arthur was good at was ignoring his problems, at least temporarily, which was why he hadn’t said no when Merlin showed up to his flat with a bag of M&Ms and a DVD of Marie Antoinette. He hadn’t said no when Merlin had put it in the player and flopped on the couch next to him.

He hadn’t said no when Merlin offered him M&Ms and asked his opinion on Kirsten Dunst. He hadn’t said anything when Merlin scooted practically into his lap and they ended up almost vertical on the couch.

“I want to live in Versailles,” Merlin murmured, his head resting against Arthur’s chest, and Arthur hoped to God Merlin couldn’t feel the way his heart was doing a tap dance against his ribcage. Instead, he let his hand card through Merlin’s hair, fingers grazing down his neck, paying more attention to the way Merlin shivered under his touch than the movie.

“You know it doesn’t quite look like that in real life,” Arthur pointed out.

“Still beautiful.” Merlin glanced up at him for a second before scooting up so they were face to face. Arthur couldn’t see the screen but he didn’t care with Merlin practically on top of him. Merlin’s eyes darted over his face, their noses close enough to bump together, and Arthur tried not to focus on the way his fingers were tingling, resting on Merlin’s shoulder.

“You wouldn’t last a day as a royal,” he said, abrupt, the only thing that came to mind to stop himself from saying something dumb like how beautiful Merlin was.

Merlin wrinkled his nose, unbearably cute. “I’d last longer than you.”

“Not with all the rules,” Arthur said, trying to shift back, but there was nowhere to go. “And the schedules and the protocol and the…” He trailed off as Merlin leaned in, cutting him off with a kiss.

Closing his eyes, Arthur kissed him back. He shouldn’t. He shouldn’t have let Merlin shift into his space, pressed against his chest, arms around Arthur’s neck as he licked inside his mouth. But he did. He kissed Merlin back, slow and steady for once, not rushed, a means to an end.

He took the time to explore Merlin’s mouth, sucking on his bottom lip until Merlin whimpered and pressed closer. He didn’t ask himself why, why they were doing this. Folding himself into Merlin, he dragged his tongue over the roof of Merlin’s mouth, everything hot and slick, too slow to be anything other than snogging.

Merlin seemed to exhale against him, the taste of chocolate on his tongue as he sucked on Arthur’s. Arthur let Merlin tilt his head, breaking away to bite at Merlin’s jaw, follow the trail to his earlobe and suck it into his mouth. He felt Merlin’s breath, hot and heavy, against the crook of his neck.

Arthur’s hand tangled in Merlin’s hair as he dragged Merlin’s mouth back to his, slowing things down, soft and lazy kisses between them in a way that was so much like intimacy that it made his chest ache.

Merlin made a soft noise against him, not protesting the slowness of things, not even attempting to move his hand down, to get between them, to do something more than kiss. Arthur wasn’t going to push it, not tonight. This was all he wanted, even if shouldn’t admit it. Gwaine’s words kept echoing in his mind, and Arthur knew he couldn’t go on like this, but for the moment, he didn’t care.

The movie played in the background, but Arthur was more focused on the slow slide of Merlin’s lips against his, the warmth of Merlin’s body pressed to his, the way Merlin shivered at Arthur’s fingers tracing the lines in his neck, dancing along his collar bone.

If Arthur didn’t think, he could pretend this was real, that Merlin wouldn’t pick up and go home as if nothing had happened when it was over.

Merlin’s tongue rolled against his, slow and dirty, and Arthur almost pulled back, but he reminded himself that Merlin wasn’t thinking about just kissing forever. Instead, he nudged Merlin’s chin up, pressing a kiss to his skin, gentle, grazing his lips up to the corner of Merlin’s mouth, ignoring the way Merlin tried to turn into it, to get his mouth back.

Whatever stupid fantasy Arthur had about Merlin, it wasn’t going to happen, he told himself firmly as Merlin’s hand slid from his neck finally, down to the small of his back where he got it under Arthur’s shirt, pressing hot against Arthur’s skin.

He had to be realistic about this, which might have been why he broke away from Merlin, purposefully not looking at how red Merlin’s lips were. Merlin seemed to blink, as though broken from some kind of spell, meeting Arthur’s gaze.

“Do you want to do me a favor?” he asked, heart hammering as Merlin tilted his head to the side.

“What kind of favor?”

Merlin’s fingers were tracing circles on Arthur’s back, and he found it hard to concentrate. 

“I want you to come with me to the cocktail hour on Friday,” he said, hesitant as he caught Merlin’s gaze. It wasn’t exactly the most normal request, especially when Merlin’s fingers stilled and he arched an eyebrow.

“You mean your dad’s cocktail hour where he tries to set you up with beauty pageant contestants?”

Arthur nodded, somehow nervous, as though Merlin agreeing to go would mean something more than it did.

Merlin shifted, still pressed against him, one hand on Arthur’s neck. “So you want me to help you prove a point?”

Arthur hated to put it that way, but what else could it be?

“I’m just tired of the set-up,” he admitted, watching Merlin swallow. “And he’ll never stop until he gets it that I’m not ever going to be interested in them.”

Merlin didn’t reply for a moment. If they were friends, Arthur thought, it wouldn’t be a problem. He could spend a night with Merlin, finally get Uther off his back, and then, then he’d end it with Merlin. He had to if he wanted any kind of relationship with him in the future.

“Okay, yeah, sure,” Merlin said finally. “I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said, sincere, pressing a kiss to Merlin’s cheek. “It’s just one night.”

“One night,” Merlin echoed, bumping his nose against Arthur’s as he leaned in and Arthur’s heart fluttered like an idiot. “So are we gonna finish the movie or should we just turn it off?”

“We know how it ends,” Arthur said despite himself, catching Merlin’s smile before Merlin kissed him and rolled on top of him.

As Kirsten Dunst cried against a wall, Arthur pulled off Merlin’s shirt and didn’t think about how this would all be over in a few days.

*

It may have only been one night, but it was the worst night as far as Arthur was concerned. He was expected to wear ‘nice’ clothes which meant ironed trousers and a button-down shirt, though Arthur at least got away with rolling up the sleeves to his elbows.

“Am I under-dressed?” Merlin asked when Arthur stopped by his flat to pick him up for the evening. Arthur personally thought Merlin looked pretty good in his skinny jeans and bomber jacket, but he had to pull Merlin back in his room and dig through drawers to find a collared shirt. 

“Just put this on and you’ll be fine,” Arthur assured him. He wasn’t sure that it mattered what Merlin wore. Uther would not approve either way. Perhaps Merlin knew that too because he shot Arthur a look as he stripped off his shirt and changed.

“How much is Uther going to insult me tonight?” Merlin asked once they were on the train into the city.

“At best, he’ll just give me a disapproving look before moving onto Morgana’s date.” Arthur could only hope. It was risky, bringing someone to one of these parties. Even if Merlin could hold his own, even if Merlin at least knew what he was getting into.

Merlin sat back in his seat as the countryside wooshed past the window. He looked at Arthur after a minute. “Have you ever brought someone to one of these before?”

“Consider yourself the lucky first,” Arthur said. “Or unlucky as it may be.”

Arthur didn’t have particularly high expectations for tonight, and he was dreading what he would have to do after. After, tomorrow or the next day or some other day, he’d have to tell Merlin he didn’t want to keep shagging. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was that he couldn’t for his own sanity.

Arthur had never been in this situation before, wanting someone he couldn’t have. Or someone that didn’t want him back. He felt as though he suddenly understood all the sappy songs on the radio. It didn’t feel good.

The trip into the city didn’t take long, or maybe it felt like it didn’t because all too soon, they were facing a restaurant door, and inside, Arthur knew the whole place had been rented out for the night by Uther. It would be full of businessmen discussing trips to the Maldives or somewhere similar.

“Are we going in? Or are we going to stand here in the rain all night?” Merlin asked as they stood outside the door.

“I suppose,” Arthur said, resigning himself. After a moment’s hesitation, he reached for Merlin’s hand. Merlin seemed surprised, glancing down, and Arthur ignored the tingling in his fingers as he pulled open the door.

Dim lights peppered the walls, just dark enough to make everyone look better. Most people they passed already had drinks in their hands and tiny appetizers on napkins. Arthur knew some of them, but he didn’t stop the chat, leading Merlin deeper into the throes of businessmen and women, searching for the bar. They would both have to be a little buzzed to get through the evening.

“So many different-coloured ties,” Merlin remarked as Arthur found the bar at last and ordered them both strong drinks.

“If only it was like the handkerchief code,” Arthur said, and Merlin laughed at that.

“What? Blue for cheating on his wife?”

“Red for will fuck any thing in a short skirt.”

“And what’s yellow?” Merlin asked, taking the drink Arthur handed him.

“Yellow is perpetually single and whining about it,” Arthur said, scanning the room for Uther or Morgana. He could feel Merlin’s shoulder pressed to his, and it seemed to only make him more nervous.

He almost hoped he’d see Morgana first, but it was Uther who cut through the crowd, a blonde girl already in tow.

“Arthur, there you are,” he said, already sounding impatient. Not a good sign for the evening.

Arthur stepped forward, Merlin beside him. “Father, I’d like you to meet Merlin. My date.” Bracing himself, he reached for Merlin’s hand, squeezing it maybe a bit too tight, but Merlin didn’t pull away, smiling at Uther.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sir,” he said politely despite the fact that Uther’s face was going pale and yet purpling at the same time. Interesting effect.

“Arthur,” Uther said, his mouth barely moving. “What is this?”

“You always say I should bring someone. So I did.” He nodded at Merlin. This was either going to go brilliantly or terribly. He couldn’t tell yet.

“You know this is not what I meant,” Uther said, keeping his voice down, though Arthur could hear him perfectly clearly.

“You said bring a date. Merlin is my date. So I’m afraid I can’t meet any nice young ladies tonight. It would be rude to Merlin and pointless for them, of course. In the future, if you want to set me up, it better be a handsome young man or it’ll be a waste of both of our time.”

He stepped around Uther before Uther could do anything other than mouth wordlessly at him. Merlin came with him, hand still gripped in Arthur’s.

“That was…” Merlin said, laughing slightly as they skirted through the crowd. Arthur felt strangely exhilarated, like he wanted to pull Merlin close to him and kiss him in front of everyone, but he couldn’t. He shouldn’t. 

“Yeah,” he agreed instead, dropping Merlin’s hand finally and taking a sip of his drink. The ice cubes clinked together as his hand shook slightly. 

“What else do you do at these things aside from scare your father to death?” Merlin asked, watching an appetizer tray go by.

“Mostly, I get drunk and try to guess who’s sleeping with who.” Arthur couldn’t say he’d ever enjoyed one of these, but the last few minutes had been rather fun.

“Is that fun?” Merlin asked, sounding skeptical, and Arthur shrugged.

“Not particularly. I’ve never had anyone else with me to make it fun.”

Merlin almost smiled but then seemed to think better of it.

“What?” Arthur asked, but whatever Merlin was thinking, he didn’t say as Morgana descended on them.

“Arthur, have you seen Uther?” she asked, peering over the crowd. “Cenred just bought the most amazing Ferrari.” She stopped looking for just a second to take him in, though her eyes darted immediately to Merlin. “Who’s this?”

“Merlin,” Arthur said, placing a reassuring hand on Merlin’s back, “this is my sister, Morgana.” If Uther was cold, Morgana could be a bit much.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Merlin said, and Morgana shot Arthur a knowing look. 

“All good, I’m sure. I haven’t heard anything about you. How long has this been going on?”

Arthur glanced at Merlin quickly. “Uh, about a month,” he said, which wasn’t entirely a lie. Merlin didn’t say anything.

Morgana gave a soft hum, eying Merlin up and down. “Well, make sure you keep him on his toes. He’s not always as quick on the uptake as he should be. What was that last bloke you dated—the pretty one you said couldn’t spell orange? I still think he was smarter than you. Was that really even a relationship, though? You were just sleeping together mostly.”

“I think Uther’s by the bar,” Arthur said pointedly, and Morgana glanced that way. He didn’t need Morgana reliving all his failed relationships. One reason why he tried to avoid introducing her to people he dated.

“It was nice meeting you, Merlin. I hope I see you again at one of these dreadfully boring parties.”

She swooped away, leaving Arthur feeling as if he’d just been side swiped by a bird of prey.

“Sorry about her,” he told Merlin. “She’s… Morgana.” There was no explanation.

Merlin didn’t say anything, staring down at the melting ice cubes in his glass. Arthur frowned, turning to him. He knew Morgana could be intimidating, but she shouldn’t have scared Merlin.

“You okay?”

Merlin seemed to give himself a little shake, like getting rid of a fly on his shoulder. “Yeah. Fine.”

Arthur nodded, bracing himself as he turned to the rest of the room. “Suppose we should make the rounds. Think you can pretend for a little longer?” _Think you could do this forever?_ his brain added, an unnecessary punch to his gut.

“A little longer,” Merlin agreed, and Arthur swallowed down the urge to press a kiss to Merlin’s lips then and there. That would not help anything, certainly not the feeling of dread creeping on as he took Merlin’s hand and faced the truth.

*

Two drinks and five of the same conversation later—”Oh, you make such a cute couple.” “Does Uther know about this?” “How long have you been together?” “Guess your father will have to give up that two point five grandchildren dream!”—Arthur was having a surprisingly good time. As long as he didn’t think about the fact that he and Merlin weren’t really together, and that all the time he’d spent with his hand on Merlin’s back, lacing their fingers together when he caught Uther’s disapproving gaze on them was just wishful thinking.

Merlin played his part well, hiding smiles behind his glass, as though amused by how easy everyone just accepted him as Arthur’s date. Arthur wasn’t surprised. Merlin was easy to like, at least when he wasn’t arguing.

“You want another drink?” Arthur asked, too close to Merlin’s ear, but he couldn’t help himself. If this was going to be the last time, he had to enjoy it, and that meant letting his lips linger a little too close to Merlin’s neck, watching the tiny hair move with his breath.

He tried not to think of how he had to break it off. Why couldn’t they go on like this forever? The sex was great and they finally got along instead of constantly fighting and annoying their friends with their disagreements. 

_Because you can’t sleep with your mate when you have actual feelings for him that he doesn’t have for you_ , said the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Leon.

“I don’t think I should,” Merlin said, moving away from Arthur, dropping Arthur’s hand, rubbing the palm against his shirt. He hesitated, and in that moment, Arthur’s heart flipped, like it knew something he didn’t from the way Merlin was gazing around the room instead of meeting his eyes. “Arthur,” he said finally, sighing out his name, “I don’t think I can do this.”

Arthur couldn’t quite pinpoint Merlin’s expression, but he could feel his own unease creeping up. 

“Do what?” he asked, joking, light.

Merlin set his empty glass on a passing tray and sighed. “I shouldn’t have agreed to this, Arthur,” he said, and Arthur could feel the weight settling in his stomach, unpleasant and heavy. 

Merlin was breaking it off.

He shouldn’t have felt so bad when he’d been intending (somewhere in the back of his mind) to do the exact same thing, but Merlin was doing it first. Merlin didn’t want to fool around anymore. Merlin just wanted to be friends. Somehow, it still felt like a dagger in his heart as Merlin said it, as if he’d hoped, somehow, that he wasn’t alone in his feelings.

“We’re friends,” Merlin said, almost pleading, and Arthur didn’t know what to say as his heartbeat thundered in his ears, choking him. “Right?”

“Right,” Arthur heard himself say, as if he wasn’t in control of his tongue.

“I just think it’s better if we—”

“No, right, of course,” Arthur said, jerkily, straightening up. He could take it. Merlin didn’t share his feelings. It was okay. They were friends. They could keep on being friends, and Arthur would take Gwaine’s advice and shag a nameless bloke at a club to get over it.

Even the thought of it made his stomach drop, and he hoped his face wasn’t giving him away. He tossed back what was left of his drink, grimacing at the taste.

He couldn’t let Merlin know that for even a second he’d thought…

“We should just get back,” he said, looking around for the coat check.

“Arthur,” Merlin said, sounding uncertain, as though unsure Arthur was okay.

Arthur wasn’t okay. He could feel his heart beating a tattoo against his throat, anxiety fluttering in his chest, but he forced a smile, easy as a lie.

“Hey, it’s what we said. You’re over Lance and that’s why we did this, wasn’t it? There’s no reason to keep going.”

There was no reason to keep going, despite the fact that Arthur couldn’t look at Merlin without wanting to kiss him, without wanting to wipe that concerned look off Merlin’s face, without wanting to wake up next to him and argue about how boring art history was forever. Instead, he let out a breath and slung an arm over Merlin’s shoulders, easy, simple, not complicated.

“Let’s go get the train,” he said, stopping only to pick up their coats before stepping into the rain. He let the drops hit his face for a second as Merlin struggled to pull on his jacket.

It was over. Faster than he’d expected, more disappointing than he’d expected, knowing for sure that Merlin didn’t want more, that it had all been on Arthur’s side. Unrequited love. What bullshit.

*

In the few years Arthur had been out, he’d gone out with plenty of guys. Dated, shagged, whatever. There’d been one or two he might have considered more serious than others, but there had never been any that lingered on his mind like Merlin did now that it was over.

Arthur didn’t know what to do for the first time in a long time. How was he supposed to go back to being friends with Merlin when he could only think about kissing him? The only answer Arthur could see was to avoid Merlin.

Not the most practical solution, but when his heart ached at Merlin’s innocuous texts about schoolwork, the only texts Merlin had sent all week, he couldn’t see a better one.

Arthur had never run from a problem, but he couldn’t bring himself to face this one. The mature thing to do would be to forget all about it, to pretend he and Merlin had never started this and go on as they had done before. Watching movies and Merlin proofreading all Arthur’s essays while making fun of his fondness for gerunds. And Arthur would go back to teasing Merlin about his obsession with medieval architecture.

But Arthur couldn’t bring himself to face Merlin yet, lounging around his flat in his boxers and ignoring the pang when he pulled up Instagram and was faced with a picture of Merlin with Gwen, of all people, sharing hashtags about latte art.

He should have been happy that Merlin was getting on with Gwen again, after everything that had happened, but instead, he just sighed and tossed his phone to the other end of the couch. Merlin didn’t need Arthur as a friend now that he and Gwen had worked things out.

Merlin didn’t need Arthur as anything anymore.

His flat seemed too big as he lay on the couch feeling bad for himself. Without Merlin’s incessant chatter, he wasn’t sure what to do. For fuck’s sake, he couldn’t believe he missed that of all things. He’d spent most of the past two years trying to figure how to get Merlin to shut up, and now that Merlin was off with Gwen and Arthur was all alone, he actually missed it.

He couldn’t believe how used he’d gotten to Merlin. Before the whole Lance thing, they’d see each other once a week or so, but without Gwen, Arthur had become Merlin’s go-to mate, and Arthur frowned as he thought that he’d liked it that way.

Now he didn’t know what to do.

Dishes gathered in the sink, dirty clothes lay scattered on his bedroom floor. Unfinished essays sat in disarray on the coffee table, and Arthur lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, like his worst idea of a pathetic idiot.

Arthur was not the pathetic idiot who sat around pining or moaning about the state of his life. He got out there and did something about it.

The problem was he just didn't want to.

His phone pinged with a message and Arthur groaned. It was probably his father with yet another reprimand for the way Arthur had left so abruptly at the party. So far, he hadn’t said anything about Arthur bringing a bloke to the party, but Arthur had a feeling he was saving that for the next monthly dinner.

The phone pinged again, and Arthur dragged himself up to dig in the cushions, opening up the text from Leon.

_Pub tonight. You coming?_

Arthur hadn’t been out all week, choosing instead to become a shut-in and dwell on the fact that Merlin only wanted to be friends and he’d let himself do something as stupid as fall for him. 

If he didn’t go out, Leon might suspect something was wrong, and Gwaine for all his pretending to be an idiot, might actually know something was wrong.

So he wrote his confirmation to Leon and dropped the phone back in the cushions. Maybe this was what he needed--alcohol and few good-looking blokes to get his mind off Merlin and the mess he found himself in.

He couldn’t quite convince himself of it, but he resigned himself to a night out anyway. He had to get over this somehow before he became one of those sad pathetic people in love with an idea.

*

There was nothing for it, Arthur decided as he scanned the pub. He was going to get over Merlin the best way he knew how.

“How about that one?” Arthur nodded over at a bloke leaning against the bar, long and lean, looking a little bored with the girl he was talking to.

Gwaine twisted around to look, because Arthur knew Gwaine would have his back in this endeavor. Leon merely frowned, as though he didn’t approve of picking up dates while out with friends. He tactfully hadn’t said anything when Arthur had announced he needed to get laid tonight. He hadn’t even brought up Merlin.

“Exactly your type,” Gwaine agreed, scanning the guy. “Bored to death already.”

“Fuck off.” Arthur shoved Gwaine’s shoulder. He was trying not to think about Merlin, despite the fact that everything reminded Arthur of him. Even the way the bored guy pushed his hair back reminded him of Merlin.

Gwaine grinned. “You couldn’t get him anyway. He’s not into blonds.”

Arthur didn’t ask how Gwaine knew that. “I can get anybody I want.”

“Oh, there’s Merlin,” Leon said, catching Arthur off-guard, and he whipped around, his chest clenching as he saw Merlin emerge through the crowd.

Leon must have invited him because Arthur had made it a point not to. Even Gwaine tossed Arthur a glance as Merlin approached their booth.

“Did I miss anything?” Merlin smiled at Leon and Gwaine before looking at Arthur, almost hesitant, which Arthur thought he didn’t have a right to be considering Merlin was the one who put a stop to it in the first place. Merlin wanted to be normal friends again, and that didn’t include hesitancy.

“Just some fit blokes,” Gwaine replied when Arthur said nothing, too busy trying to override the wave of anxiety filling his stomach at the sight of Merlin. It felt worse than he’d expected, knowing he had to pretend things were normal, and that seeing Merlin didn’t make him feel sad and annoyed at himself all at the same time. “Trying to get this one a shag.” He nudged Arthur.

Arthur didn’t meet Merlin’s gaze. “I don’t need help.”

Merlin sat down next to Leon, folding his hands on the table, and Arthur hated how awkward this was. Normally, he would have made fun of Merlin’s shirt embroidered with tiny pineapples, plucked at the collar and asked who he was dressed up for. Instead, he took a gulp of his pint and waited for someone else to speak.

Leon glanced between them. “I saw your Instagram with Gwen,” he said while Arthur tried to work out how to stop thinking about how good Merlin looked in his stupid pineapple shirt and why it hurt so much just to see him. It had never been like this with anyone else he’d broken up with, people he’d actually been dating. It felt like he’d lost Merlin completely. “You two working things out then?”

“Things are a lot better, yeah,” Merlin said, not meeting Arthur’s eye when Arthur chanced a glance. “I just needed to get over the fact that I wasn’t right for Lance. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

That wasn’t what Merlin had said a month ago when he was blaming everyone from himself to Gwen to Lance to horoscopes and the alignment of the planets.

“So it’s back to the dating scene?” Gwaine asked and Merlin hesitated.

Arthur kept his gaze on his pint. It was nearly empty but not quite empty enough to justify getting up to get another just to escape the table. He wasn’t sure he could stand to think about Merlin dating some new bloke who would just break his heart and then where would they be? Arthur couldn’t come to his rescue again, not after this.

“I don’t know,” Merlin said after a minute. “I think maybe I should just take a break.”

“That’s no way to go about it,” Gwaine insisted, and Arthur wasn’t going to be able to listen to this, to Gwaine encouraging Merlin to get back out there. He didn’t think he could quite handle the thought of Merlin with someone else.

Draining his mug, he stood abruptly from the table, drawing everyone’s gaze. “I’m gonna get another round.”

He couldn’t disappear fast enough, leaning over the bar and flagging down the bartender.

Jesus, what was wrong with him? He couldn’t spend five minutes with Merlin without falling apart. How were they ever supposed to be friends again? Merlin had no idea. Merlin thought they were friends, which might have been what hurt most of all.

It was all Arthur’s fault too. _He_ had fallen for Merlin. _He_ hadn’t told Merlin how he felt, though it was pretty obvious Merlin didn’t feel the same, Merlin wanted things to go back to how they were.

Turning, he bumped into someone behind him, the guy he’d been trying to talk himself into. He was still good-looking up close, with dark brown eyes and a five o’clock shadow along his jaw.

“Sorry,” Arthur apologized, and the guy seemed to smile. 

“I’m not.”

If it had been any other time, Arthur wouldn’t have hesitated to cock his hip against the bar and let his eyes drag obviously down this bloke’s body, a clear invitation. As it was, he glanced at the booth where he caught Merlin watching him, expression inscrutable.

This was his chance. Sex had gotten Merlin over Lance and it would get Arthur over Merlin.

Pushing Merlin from his mind, he flashed the guy a smile. “I can do a better apology,” he offered, and the guy smirked, eyebrows raising.

“Prove it.”

*

The stall door slammed behind them and Arthur closed his eyes as he got the lock clicked, trying to focus on the guy’s mouth on his neck, the rough scrape of stubble along his skin. He turned from the kiss the guy tried to press to his lips, guiding his mouth down instead.

Hands slid down Arthur’s chest, over his shirt, down to his waistband, the guy dropping to his knees, and all Arthur could see was his mop of dark hair as he shoved Arthur’s shirt up to his belly button and laved Arthur’s skin with his tongue.

It should have been hot, but Arthur couldn’t help sighing, trying to focus on the guy’s mouth, his hands pulling his jeans apart. 

He’d done this before, sex with a stranger, someone he’d never see again, and usually, he was totally into it, into knowing it was completely anonymous, into not knowing what might happen, but this time. This time, he had to close his eyes and really concentrate when he felt hot breath on his cock, not quite hard.

With his eyes closed, his mind went immediately to Merlin, Merlin’s soft lips sliding down, Merlin’s long fingers pressing bruises into his hips as he moaned around him, Merlin gazing up at Arthur with his impossibly blue eyes.

Jerking, Arthur’s hands came up, almost a visceral reaction, pushing the guy away from him and opening his eyes.

“What the fuck?” the guy asked, shooting Arthur a confused look.

“I can’t do this,” Arthur said, the words out of his mouth before he even thought of them.

“What?” the guy asked again, but Arthur was closing his jeans, doing the button and pulling the stall door open.

Fuck, he couldn’t even have meaningless sex with a stranger in a pub anymore. What had Merlin done to him?

“You’re fucked up, mate,” the guy said as he breezed out of the bathroom with a dirty look thrown over his shoulder. 

For a second, Arthur stood at the mirror, rubbing his face, trying to shake away the terrible sucking feeling deep inside him. He had to get over this. He had to. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life thinking about Merlin.

Dragging himself upright, he took a deep breath. Just keep it together until he could get home.

He left the bathroom, dragging a hand through his hair and making his way back to the booth where Gwaine and Leon still sat. He glanced around, though, looking for Merlin.

“Where’s Merlin?”

“Left not long after you disappeared,” Gwaine said. “Said he had studying to do.”

Arthur said nothing, pulling the full mug at his spot towards him and ignoring Leon watching him.

“Do I even want to ask what’s going on here?” Leon asked, resigned as if he already knew or at least guessed.

“No, you don’t,” Arthur replied, slumping in his seat.

“Arthur’s in love with Merlin,” Gwaine said bluntly.

“Gwaine!” Arthur snapped. There’d been a reason he hadn’t said anything. And he wasn’t _in love_. He just felt something, something more than friendship, something he couldn’t quite explain or forget.

Leon set a hand to his face, as though he’d expected this very thing to happen, as though that made it any better for Arthur, who’d just turned down sex with a stranger because he couldn’t get Merlin out of his head.

Gwaine didn’t look abashed, shooting him a pointed look instead. “You’re not gonna talk about it with Merlin, so you may as well talk about it with us.”

“Of course I’m not going to talk about it with Merlin,” Arthur practically growled, annoyance overcoming embarrassment. “Merlin just wants to be friends.”

Leon let his hand fall with a sigh. “You have to talk to him about it.”

Arthur scowled at his mug. “Why? It’s not going to change anything. It’s my problem, not his.”

“Because you _are_ friends,” Leon said. “And if you keep ignoring him like this, he won’t be for much longer.”

It seemed so stupid. What good could come of it except that Merlin would know and it would be even more awkward than before?

“I’ll get over it,” Arthur assured him. Someday it wouldn’t hurt to be around Merlin. Someday things might go back to normal.

“Maybe,” Leon allowed. “Or maybe you’ll lose any kind of relationship with Merlin.”

Arthur hated being wrong, but more than that, he hated when other people were right. He wasn’t sure he could imagine life without Merlin in it somehow, and he hadn’t been doing a very good job of being his friend lately.

“So I tell him and then what?” It would change everything. But could it really be worse than it was right now?

Gwaine slung an arm over Arthur’s shoulder. “Then the truth is out there and you can move on for real.” He arched an eyebrow at Arthur. “Because either you are a really quick lay or Bored Bloke over there didn’t get very far.”

Arthur frowned but didn’t shake Gwaine off. He hated the idea of baring his feelings to Merlin, opening himself up like that to someone, only to get rejected. It wasn’t something he excelled at or something he’d had much practice doing.

“I hate you both,” Arthur said instead, shoving Gwaine away as Gwaine shook his shoulder. He really needed new friends.

*

Arthur didn’t text Merlin for a week, spending it hiding in his flat and frowning at every picture Gwen shared on Instagram of her with Merlin. The thing was, Merlin didn’t text him either, not even about his essays or to share a dumb thought about why freshers thought it was alright to wear pajamas around the grounds.

Every time his phone went off, Arthur grabbed it eagerly, and he was always disappointed when it wasn’t Merlin. He had to get a grip on himself.

He was working on it, working up the courage to go over to Merlin’s flat and just say it. Courage wasn’t usually a weakness of his, but he just couldn’t bring himself to face the rejection and change that would surely come.

Not as though it could be much worse than sitting on his sofa, his heart jumping at every text message that turned out to be from his mobile phone provider about some sale they were having.

Either he was going to have to pretend everything was fine for real or he was going to have to talk to Merlin.

It took Arthur another two days before he found himself outside Merlin’s flat, not having texted in advance, forcing himself to knock.

Elena opened the door, in her yoga clothes as always.

“Arthur,” she greeted him, hands twisted behind her back. “Looking for Merlin?”

Apparently Merlin hadn’t mentioned anything to his flatmates. Arthur nodded, glancing around the common room, but Elena appeared to be the only one home at the moment.

“He’s in his room,” she said, nodding Arthur in and closing the door with her foot.

Arthur didn’t waste time with small talk, heading for Merlin’s door and knocking gently as he pushed it open. He could do this. Quick, like ripping off a band-aid and it would be over.

“I told you I’m busy, Elena,” Merlin’s voice greeted him, and Arthur pushed open the door to reveal Merlin sitting cross-legged on his bed, watching a video on his phone. Merlin’s eyes widened as Arthur stepped in. “Arthur.”

“Busy watching youtube?” Arthur asked because teasing was easier than being serious.

Merlin set his phone down as Arthur closed the door behind him. “What are you doing here?”

Arthur took a breath around the pressure in his chest, turning to Merlin. He just had to say it. “We’re friends. Friends stop by.”

“Friends don’t ignore each other for two weeks.”

“You didn’t text me this week either,” Arthur said, but he knew it was on him, this issue between them. Merlin just wanted things to be normal and Arthur couldn’t do it.

Merlin almost smiled, reticent. “After you pretty much ignored me at the pub and then went off to hook up with some random stranger, I didn’t see the point.” He paused, sliding off the bed and facing Arthur. “What’s going on? I thought we were fine. I thought the whole point of this was to eventually just go back to normal.”

“It was,” Arthur said, wishing he was better at this, but with Merlin staring at him, demanding an answer, he could only feel the rise in his pulse.

“So why are you acting so weird?”

“Why aren’t you?” Arthur asked, unable to stop himself, and Merlin frowned. “Do you just shag your mates all the time then pretend it never happened?”

Merlin stared at him for a long moment before looking away. “No, I don’t,” he said finally. “I thought this was what you wanted. You suggested it. Casual sex. Friends with benefits. No falling in love, you said.”

Arthur grimaced. He had to say it. He had to get it out before it ate him alive, even if Merlin hated him for ruining their friendship like this.

“Apparently I lied,” Arthur said, forcing himself to meet Merlin’s eyes. “Apparently I’m shit at following my own rules because all I can think about is you, and your stupid smile and how I wish I hadn’t been such an idiot all of last year and just realized this before you dated Lance and I got myself into this situation. And I know it’s not what you agreed to. I know I’m way out of line even telling you this, but I can’t be your friend, not like we used to be, not until I’m over this… over you.”

The last word seemed to echo in Merlin’s tiny bedroom, enveloping both of them like a cloud, the air thick as Arthur waited, waited for Merlin to tell him he was crazy and stupid for ruining everything like this. They’d had a good relationship before. They should never have started this.

He wasn’t expecting Merlin to take a few quick steps towards him, grab him by the neck and kiss him.

“What, what’s happening?” Arthur asked, jerking back, away from Merlin’s mouth, every nerve in his body on edge, his heart ready to burst from anxiety.

“You’re an idiot,” Merlin said, shaking his head, kissing Arthur again, deep and hard, and Arthur was pretty sure his heart was about to convulse, the way it battered against his ribcage.

“Why?” he asked, breathless when Merlin pulled back. He didn’t understand what was happening. Was he dreaming?

Merlin’s arms slid around his neck as he exhaled slowly, leaning into Arthur. “I called it off because I was starting to like you, and I was worried you thought it was just sex. I didn’t want to ruin anything.”

Arthur let out a laugh, short, full of disbelief. Had they both been that stupid? Bringing his hands to Merlin’s waist, he shook his head.

“Are you telling me we both ruined this?”

“I guess so,” Merlin agreed, smiling at Arthur, and Arthur felt his chest burst with happiness. “Besides, I could never be friends with a prat like you.”

“But you could be boyfriends,” Arthur said, mouth hovering over Merlin’s lips as he closed his eyes. Maybe Leon had been right about talking about things. Maybe it was a good idea.

He felt Merlin’s lips curve into a smile. “Yeah, I could be that.”

Arthur kissed Merlin, soft and slow, arms curling around his back, pressing him closer as Merlin’s mouth opened for him. This was so much better than just sex, he admitted, and so much better than friends.

_What's taking us all this time  
Let's ruin the friendship_  


**Author's Note:**

> Song lyric from Demi Lovato's "Ruin the Friendship"
> 
> Find me on [tumblr.](http://believenthlie.tumblr.com)


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